From the crisis towards decent and safe jobs in Central Asia and Southern Caucasus Executive summary The project is aimed at assisting the national partners (Government, Trade Unions and Employers’ Organisations) in eight CIS countries, consisting of the five Central Asian and three Caucasian countries, to put into practice the priorities that they have them selves identified in the pursuit of Decent Work. The ILO objective – “Decent Work for All” is strongly promoted through the Decent Work Country Programmes (DWCP) initiated by three constituents and agreed with the ILO. Thus, the DWCP priorities are aligned with the countries’ priorities: in the national development contexts the DWCP objectives are linked with the major development objectives of the long-term National Development Strategies of these CIS countries. The ILO constituents are defining the labour related challenges in their own countries and design, jointly with the ILO Decent Work Country Programmes with priorities, outcomes and indicators. These programmes are taking into account the programmes and resources of the three national partners, ILO’s knowledge sharing, advice and consultations as well as some of ILO’s small regular budget activities. Taking into account the “One UN Agenda”, the ILO has, recognizing the importance of decent work in achieving sustainable development, ensured that the Decent Work Country Programmes take into account the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), especially the Goals on poverty reduction and employment, gender, HIV/AIDS, environment and global partnership, at the national level. Further the ILO has aligned the DWCPs with the United Nations Development Assistance Frameworks (UNDAFs). One of the participating countries, Kyrgyzstan is a pilot country for the “One UN Agenda”. In addition to the DWCP and its implementation plan, the ILO is participating actively in the UN Country Team (UNCT) and its implementation of the joint UN activities. The project will establish close cooperation with other UN organizations and project in other project countries. The structure of the DWCPs is based on the selection of three priorities, which are based on the national priorities, as defined by the ILO constituents (Government, Trade Unions and Employers’ Organisations). The preparation process is focusing on only three priorities, for each priority only three concrete results/outcomes, which are accompanied by measurable indicators. The priorities that the national partners are recurrently initiating are: • Increasing employment opportunities • Modernising the national occupational safety and health systems • Improving social protection and social security Strengthening social dialogue is the hallmark of the ILO and will, thus, be streamlined in all activities The nationally defined priorities have been used to define the three main pillars of the project; employment promotion, occupational safety and health and social security, which are intertwined. - employment promotion aims at a decent income for women and men, but in decent and safe working conditions - safe and healthy working conditions (OSH) and proper conditions of employment are increasing productivity and income generation, and avoid catastrophes in life (loss of bread winner, etc) - social protection and social security (unemployment benefits, occupational accident insurance and maternity protection) ensures that vulnerable groups are protected and are able to return to economically active life The pursuit of all three aims is based on a systematic and integrated approach (see picture 1) - employment: INformation, Training and Real Opportunities (INTRO) - OSH: introduction of coherent OSH management systems at enterprises (ILO-OSH 2001) - social security: situational analysis, awareness raising and capacity building, and targeted interventions The social impact of the global economic crisis is beginning to be felt in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The severe decline in economic growth has clearly been reflected