IYCW at the ILO Conference: Who Profits Must Contribute to Ending Inequality and Discrimination
This year's International Labour Conference is being held in two segments. The second segment is running from 25th November to 11th December 2021.
Errol Alonzo, Carolin Moch and Sarah Prenger represented the IYCW in the second segment of this international assembly. On this occasion, Errol delivered a statement responding to the report of the Director-General of the ILO on inequality.
Starting his statement, Errol confirmed the Director-General’s report.
“Young workers from all over the world confirm the report. They confirm, for example, that workers with temporary contracts have been the first to be laid off; that informal workers have had to choose between starving and risking infection; that temporary workers on a weekly basis are not really able to interact with fellows; that a department leader was degraded after telling her employer about her pregnancy; and that a qualified platform worker is working without a contract.”
IYCW at UNESCO: Invest in Strong Social Protection
The IYCW was invited to the 41st UNESCO general assembly which took place at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France from 9-24 November 2021. As an official partner of UNESCO, the IYCW was invited to provide its views on the issues currently under the attention of UNESCO.
Sarah Prenger, the IYCW president, shared her views on education, work and youth. She appreciated the director general of UNESCO highlighting the impact of educational disruption due to the pandemic on almost two billion learners.
“I thank the director general of UNESCO for pointing out that in the year 2020, 1.6 billion learners were affected by an unprecedented educational disruption. These data just show how billions of people around the world are far from living in dignity,” Sarah said.
Women’s Participation and Empowerment
On November 21, three well-known international organizations held a seminar on “Women’s Participation and Empowerment in the World.” With the collaboration of Entraide et Fraternité, the MIJARC (International Movement of Catholic Agricultural and Rural Youth), the FIMARC (International Federation of Catholic Rural Adult Movements) and the IYCW (International Young Christian Workers) agreed to organize this seminar, in which young and adult women from countries such as Paraguay, Nicaragua, Peru, Colombia, Brazil, Haiti, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic participated.
The seminar, which was held online, had the important contributions of three participants from Peru, Nicaragua and Paraguay, who explained what it means to be a woman in their countries and described the reality they face in all aspects of their lives.
Paraguay YCW: 80 Years of Life, Struggle and Workers' Action
Rosa Galeano, a leader of Paraguay YCW, elaborated on how and when the YCW entered the country. She explained that the YCW is a movement that was created at the beginning of the 20th century on the initiative of a Belgian priest, Joseph Cardijn, and some young workers.
Joseph Cardijn, a Belgian priest, and a number of young working women and men were concerned by the deplorable conditions experienced in Belgium by their fellow workers in factories, spinning mills, mines and in the families living in working-class areas.
“In Paraguay, the movement arrived through Monsignor Ramón Bogarín Argaña in 1941, and from that year onwards its most important moments were until the 1970s. Then, like all social organisations, it began to fade away due to the persecutions of the dictatorship,” Rosa said.
Errol Samarista: All Fishermen to Receive Adequate Social Protection
“This is my second life. I spent a day and a night afloat more than 24 hrs. in the big sea in March 2020. I was fortunate to be discovered by the seashore of a nearby town. I am grateful to God for my second life.” - Jesus Aguilar, young fisherman
Errol Samarista, IYCW Asia-Pacific coordinator, was present as one of the resource persons in the webinar “Safety and Health is a Fundamental Right at Work”, organized by INSP!R Asia (International Network for Social Protection Rights) and ACV-CSC International, on Monday, October 25 and Tuesday, October 26, 2021.
All workers, regardless of their type of employment, formal and informal, men and women, have the right to a safe and healthy working environment, including affordable quality health care and social protection. Declaring safety and health as a fundamental right at work means that governments have to respect it, promote it, enshrine it in law and enforce it, monitoring its implementation in good faith.
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