“Poverty anywhere is a threat to prosperity everywhere”
Declaration Concerning the Aims and Purpose of the International Labour Organization, Philadelphia, 1944.
Nearly half of the world’s 2.8 billion workers are unable to earn enough to lift themselves and their family members above the $US2 a day poverty line. But poverty is not just a problem for the poor. World political and social stability and security is difficult to envision if such large numbers of people continue to be trapped in cycles of poverty or see few opportunities in a global system that seems discriminatory and unfair.
Combating poverty and promoting social integration is about more than increasing incomes. It is also about rights, dignity and communication giving people economic, social and political empowerment.
Breaking the cycle of poverty involves creating new cycles of opportunity and local wealth creation. The ILO encourages governments and international organizations to respect the opinions of poor people and to design solutions that are tailor-made rather than 'one size fits all'. Furthermore, those solutions should be underpinned by greater policy coherence both among international agencies and within them.
'People in poverty go through each day with the will to survive, but without the support and possibilities to move up the ladder of opportunity. Imagine where their efforts could take them if that ladder were in place. Our common responsibility is to help put it there', says the ILO Director-General, Juan Somavia.