UNHCR and ILO sign new agreement to help displaced people find work
01 July 2016
GENEVA (ILO News) – Amid rising forced displacement as a result of conflict and persecution and other causes, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) today agreed a new understanding to promote employment opportunities for refugees and other forcibly displaced persons.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed on 1 July 2016 at ILO headquarters, is expected to open a new and deeper phase of collaboration between the ILO and UNHCR.

The agreement focuses on long-term solutions for refugees and others displaced by conflict and persecution. As part of the wider UN response to the Syrian refugee crisis, the ILO has adopted a development-focused and employment-driven strategy to support host communities and refugees to maintain and reinforce the social and economic stability of the neighbouring countries affected.

The agreement, which builds on an earlier one from 1983, was signed by Deborah Greenfield, ILO Deputy Director-General for Policy, and Volker Türk, UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Protection.

“These alarming displacement trends cannot be dealt with by stopgap measures. This MoU will enable our two agencies to join forces and promote comprehensive durable solutions enabling refugees and other forcibly displaced persons to obtain decent work, while protecting their rights and supporting the countries and communities hosting refugees,” said Greenfield.

“Allowing refugees and other forcibly displaced persons to get jobs helps them fend for themselves, restore confidence, and rebuild their lives, but just as importantly it allows them to contribute economically to the communities they are part of,” said Volker Türk, UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Protection.

The MoU identifies eight common priorities, including the promotion of solutions and protection of refugees’ rights, and advocates inclusive and equal treatment in access to decent work and livelihoods, as well as social protection. It also seeks to ensure support to local communities, countering the economic exploitation of those displaced and eradicating child labour…

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More major companies sign the Global Business and Disability Network Charter
29 June 2016
PARIS (ILO News) – Four major international companies (BNP Paribas, IBM, Repsol and Sodexo) have just signed the ILO Global Business and Disability Network Charter in an event held at Carrefour headquarters in Paris on Wednesday…

The Charter expresses the commitment of those companies to promoting and including persons with disabilities throughout their operations worldwide.

It covers a wide range of areas, from protecting staff with disabilities from any kind of discrimination to making company premises and communication to staff progressively accessible to all employees with disabilities.

“For the ILO, promoting decent work for people with disabilities is a key objective, and one which needs the active involvement of the private sector. I would like to welcome the four companies that are signing today the Global Business and Disability Charter, joining the eleven global companies that signed the Charter last October in Geneva. I hope that many of the other companies attending the meeting today will also consider doing so in the near future,” ILO Director-General Guy Ryder told the meeting in Paris…