The ILO has a major challenge to make that message understood and acted upon and it calls for creative thinking. I think it is in dealing with the uncertainties and insecurities that the emerging global economy has brought upon all of us. The advantages of open economies and open societies are accepted by most. What is now becoming increasingly evident is that its benefits are not reaching enough people. There are blockages in many places.
Uncertainty is no longer the sole preserve of the socially excluded.
Today, it reaches deep into middle class attitudes and reactions, with many parents feeling that their children may not have a better life than their own - a belief which has been for ages a bedrock of middle class mentality. But it goes beyond. Leaders, in traditional industrial or manufacturing sectors, have many doubts as to where their business is heading. Not to mention workers in the North and South caught in the trap of a race to the bottom who fear that intensified global competition exerts downward pressure on working conditions and labour standards. Globalization and internationalization of markets directly affect enterprises.