About the program

Boosting crisis response through decent work

• Crises threaten the number and quality of jobs, as well as human livelihoods, development, and social progress. But by mobilizing relevant actors for reconstruction, they can open a window of opportunity to promote decent work for a better future.
• Decent work pulls societies and individuals out of crises and fuels sustainable recovery and development. It can also break the links between poverty, vulnerability, and crises.

Decent work can pull people and societies out of crises

• ILO cannot ignore the increasing number and severity of armed conflicts, natural disasters, economic downturns and abrupt social and political transitions.
• Crises are, or can suddenly become, part of daily life in most developing countries. Their frequency is also increasing. They were 3.5 times as numerous in the 1990s as in the 1960s, with about 700 in 1999 alone.
• For example, according to ILO estimates, the 2005 earthquake in South Asia destroyed over 1.1 million jobs and livelihoods in the affected parts of Pakistan, almost half the employment that existed in the region before the earthquake. Moreover, the average employee supported more than two dependents, meaning that the loss of 1.1 million jobs affected some 3.5 million people.
• The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami also shattered lives and livelihoods. More than 600,000 jobs were lost in affected parts of Indonesia, causing the unemployment rate to rise from 26% to over 40%. In Sri Lanka, the ILO estimates that 275,000 livelihoods were lost directly and about 125,000 indirectly. Finally, in India, a joint assessment found that about 645,000 families were affected, with 1.2 million livelihoods lost.
• Such extreme events devastate societies with deaths, injuries, displacements, physical and social destruction, unemployment, crumbling working conditions, and poverty, often wiping out decades of development. They also take the heaviest toll on groups already disadvantaged and marginalized.
• In post-crisis contexts, decent jobs are an immediate, central need. But they “do not happen by themselves.” Job creation must be a clear, ever-present target. It should be part of all strategies to prevent crises or limit their impact, and throughout the humanitarian, rehabilitation and reconstruction phases after a crisis strikes.
• The employment dimension is not yet widely considered a priority in crisis aftermaths. The “jobs reflex” is not fully there. However, if the “employment case” is made, national and international crisis response actors react well.

ILO can contribute substantial value added

• ILO’s main work areas – productive jobs, basic social protection, labour rights and social dialogue – constitute, together, a powerful strategy for socio-economic reconstruction, social inclusion and peacebuilding within and among communities.
• ILO has proven capacity and experience in programmes promoting the socio-economic reintegration of crisis-affected groups, as well as the rebuilding of physical infrastructure and institutional capacity.
• ILO can count on its network of some 65 offices worldwide and the ILO/CRISIS Team, which can mobilize swiftly and set in motion an ILO-wide crisis response.

Crises are key times to promote decent work

• Crises are crucial turning points for the societies they affect. They often lead to a disruption and questioning of past institutions and create a political will to “build back better". Decent Work must play a central role in this process. It helps ILO tripartite constituents seek a more solid and crisis resistant development path, one reflecting and furthering people’s legitimate aspirations to decent livelihoods and progress. It can also muster up the significant national and international commitment and the human and financial resources needed for such a reshaping.
• Convincingly showing the value of a job-based approach to crises provides important strategic entry points for the ILO to promote decent work in crisis-affected countries.
• Crises provide visibility for decent work and its value, even beyond these countries.

A history of ILO crisis response

The ILO has been involved in crisis work almost since its inception, with its roots solidly set in post-World War I reconstruction and peace-building. In 1969, it was awarded the Nobel Peace Price. Its work on (and in) crises has intensified since the 1990s, with the creation of a series of programmes:

• 1994-96 – Programme on the reintegration of demobilized ex-combatants
• 1996-98 – Programme on skills and entrepreneurship training for countries emerging from armed conflict
• 1999-2005 – InFocus Programme on Crisis Response and Reconstruction. This programme constructed a coherent, ILO-wide framework for crisis response. It undertook the following efforts:

• Country Interventions 58
• Funds Mobilized US$53 million
• Tools Developed 15
• Books and Working Papers Produced 47
• Capacity Building Events Held 8

These numbers, however, do not reflect worldwide instances of technical cooperation, policy advice, and other support to partners and ILO tripartite constituents. Such efforts magnified the programme’s impact beyond what a similar level of funding would normally allow.

2005-present – ILO Crisis Response and Reconstruction Programme (ILO/CRISIS). Continuing longstanding tradition, this programme is charged with bringing the ILO’s decent work and socio-economic expertise to bear on crisis prevention and recovery. For the first time, it comprises a “Whole of ILO” response to crisis challenges. Through its multifaceted strategy, the programme seeks to exert strategic influence on crisis actors to place employment concerns at the forefront of their efforts and promote the recovery and reintegration of affected communities.