Objectives of the Seminar

The Staff Seminar (16-19 September) will bring together some 50 participants from the field and headquarters to exchange views and experiences on integrated approaches to decent work, poverty reduction and PRSPs at the country level. Participants from the field are invited to continue on to attend the Capacity-building workshop on advocacy on Decent work and PRSPs, scheduled back-to-back from 18 to 19 September 2003.


ILO's experience in contributing to the PRSP is three years old, a good time to review progress and discuss future directions. This work started with a Pilot project in five countries, Cambodia, Honduras, Nepal, Mali, and Tanzania, agreed upon by the ILO Director?General and the President of the World Bank, and funded by DFID. With the establishment of the Policy Integration Department in 2002, the development and promotion of coherent cross?sectoral strategies and integrated frameworks for connecting the poverty and the decent work agenda have been given further support. The National Policy Group (INTEGRATION/NPG) is given responsibility for supporting ILO's contribution to the PRSP process, in close collaboration with sectors and regions. An internal PRSP Advisory Committee has been formed to reinforce policy coherence and cross-office participation in the process. Since, various parts of the house have been involved in contributing towards policy advice and a more inclusive process for the formulation of these country documents. PRSPs are in various stages of preparation in more than 70 countries and are increasingly becoming the overall development framework at the national level and for mobilizing international funding and support.

The experience of the five pilot PRSP countries was reviewed positively at the 2002 November Governing Body session of the ILO and support was extended for the continuation of ILO's engagement with the PRSP process. Today, ILO is engaged in PRSPs, in a comprehensive manner, in ten countries extended beyond the five pilot countries, to Ghana, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Vietnam. In addition, capacity-building initiatives with social partners, the cooperative movement and other stakeholders are planned and underway. Field, Headquarters units and INTEGRATION/NPG collaborate in the implementation of the above?mentioned schemes.

Last June, the Director?General's Report to the ILC, "Working Out of Poverty", received overwhelming support from constituents for continued engagement of the ILO on poverty reduction through the decent work agenda.

Against this background, the objectives of the Seminar are to review progress, exchange experience and views on the following issues:

1) the conceptual framework of decent work and PRSPs;
2) country experiences for advocating a coherent, integrated and coordinated decent work agenda into the PRSP process;
3) promoting tripartism and broad-based participation in the PRSP process;
4) the evolution in the international community's strategies on PRSPs (donors, IFIs and UN Agencies);
5) the development of a capacity-building programme for improving the advocacy capacity for PRSPs in the house; this will be subject of the workshop on the 18-19 September 2003.

This seminar should be seen as one in a series of steps for sharing experiences and knowledge, developing a common approach and identifying effective methods for integrating the decent work agenda into the PRSP policy frameworks. The seminar follows on the same methodology as the earlier Seminar on "Promoting Policy Integration at the National Level - Country Strategies on Decent Work", held in Turin in July 2003, bringing together field and headquarters'staff to brainstorm on substantive and process related issues.

Venue and Date

The International Training Centre of the ILO, Turin, 16-19 September 2003.
Participants travelling by bus from Geneva will arrive on Monday 16 September 2003 in the morning. The first part of the Seminar involving all participants starts at 14:00 on 16 September 2003 and ends on 18 September 2003 at 14:00. The second part of the seminar addressed to the field, NPG and selected headquarters units starts on 18 September 2003 at 14:00 and ends on 19 September 2003 at 15:30.

Participants

Participants include staff closely involved with ILO's work on PRSPs from technical sectors in Geneva, directors and technical specialists from all regions, CODEV, PROGRAM, and INTEGRATION.

Organization

The National Policy Group, Policy Integration Department (INTEGRATION/NPG) and the International Training Center (ITC) jointly organize the Seminar.

Programme

The draft Programme encourages active participation of all through plenary discussions and panel presentations on selected topics, addressing both substantive and process related issues. As mentioned, the seminar is structured in two parts. The first part on Decent Work, Poverty Reduction and PRSPs - Thematic and Cross-country Experiences involving all participants is scheduled from 16 to 18 September at noon. The second part, the Capacity-building workshop on advocacy is scheduled from 18 to 19 September 2003.

Logistics and cost-sharing

For ILO participants travelling from Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Arab States and Europe, up to 50% of the travel cost; board and lodging in Turin for all participants, as well as transport by bus for participants travelling from Geneva are covered by INTEGRATION.
The originating units will bear the 20% extra DSA cost of all participants.
All logistics and organizational matters are handled by ITC, Turin (Fred Fluitman f.fluitman@--NO-SPAM--itcilo.org and Marta Tirelli m.tirelli@--NO-SPAM--itcilo.org ).