Actively shaping digitization - worldwide!

In cooperation with KAB (National Movement of WMCW-MMTC), the World Emergency Office and KönzgenHaus, a two-day symposium entitled "Global digitization: risks and opportunities of work in the future" was held in Cologne/Haltern, last December 2018. Can global digitization - in the world of work and in daily life - really put an end to extreme poverty, inequality and injustice and also initiate an ecological trend reversal?

Digitalisation eats up resources - an ecological time bomb

"Digitalisation does not reduce our ecological footprint; on the contrary, the introduction of autonomous driving alone would increase the energy demand extraordinarily due to the extreme growth of data streams," emphasised Sven Hilbig, world trade officer at the development agency Brot für die Welt. “The battery of an electric car contains 10,000 times as much lithium as a cell phone battery. The resulting increase in demand for raw materials from Africa and South America is a serious problem for social and ecological sustainability in the global South. Digital trade, as here with raw materials, also threatens to restrict the scope for developing and emerging countries; above all the digital supply chains increase the added value of globally operating corporations and platforms.” 

This year's International Labour Conference is being held in two segments. The second segment is running from 25^th November to 11^th 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.”

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.