Tne United Nations on Global Discrimination

Posted by Karen Mattonen

July 31, 2007

Karen Mattonen On June 29th 2007 - The United Nations Labor Organization recently presented a new report regarding Global Discrimination in the workplace. The Report noted that though there were some progresses to fight discrimination, unfortunately there have also been tremendous failures which brought a need for Countries to do more to help prevent Discrimination in Employment.

Workplace discrimination still rampant and taking on new forms, UN says are cause for growing concern United Nations Labour Organization (ILO) said in a new report released today. Enforcement remains weak and oftentimes offices created expressly to tackle discrimination are understaffed or underfunded. Additionally, a growing informal economy allows for such anti-discrimination laws to be bypassed Inequalities in income, assets and opportunities “dilute the effectiveness of any action aimed at combating discrimination.” The ILO warned that “this may lead to political instability and social upheaval, which upset investment and economic growth.”

In its most comprehensive report on discrimination to date, the ILO’s Equality at work: Tackling the challenges provides a global picture of job-related discrimination, citing both progress and failures in the struggle to fight discrimination ranging from traditional forms such as sex, race or religion, to newer forms based on age, sexual orientation, HIV/AIDS status and disability.

“The condemnation of discrimination in employment and occupation is today almost universal, as is the political commitment to tackle it.” It says that as of 2007, nine out of 10 ILO member States had ratified the two core Conventions on discriminationNevertheless, it also says the need to combat discrimination at work is more urgent than it was four years ago “in the face of a world that appears increasingly unequal, insecure and unsafe”, adding that “significant and persistent inequalities in income, assets and opportunities dilute the effectiveness of any action aimed at combating discrimination. This may lead to political instability and social upheaval, which upset investment and economic growth”.

Nevertheless, it also says “many shortcomings persist” adding law enforcement remains weak while in many countries offices that have been created to deal with discrimination aren’t properly staffed or funded. While anti-discrimination efforts are increasing in the formal economy, a growing informal economy represents a vast and moving target for public policies seeking to remove obstacles preventing hundreds of millions of people from enjoying equal opportunities at work, according to the report.

These barriers to equality can prevent societies from realizing the full potential of today’s globalized economy. The promotion of equal opportunities for decent work for all women and men, irrespective of race, religion, disability, age or sexual orientation, is one of the means to advance in this direction, the report says.

Source: National Labour Organization