Articles
ITUC statement on International Migrants Day
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Millions of people are seeking the economic and social opportunities denied to them due to poverty and lack of development, with women migrating in equal numbers to men in search of work. Millions more are fleeing war, political repression and the accelerating impacts of climate change. Women and children make up three-quarters of the global refugee population.
On International Migrants Day 2015, we celebrate the anniversaries of two key human rights instruments: 25 years of the UN Convention on the Protection of Migrant Workers and and 40 years of the ILO Migrant Workers Convention 143.
2016: The Forthcoming Adjustment Shock
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Analysis of the latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) expenditure projections for 187 countries between 2005 and 2020 reveals that there have been two distinct phases of government spending patterns since the onset of the global economic crisis.
During the first phase (2008-09) many countries introduced fiscal stimulus and expanded public spending as a countercyclical measure to cushion the impacts of the global crisis on their populations. Overall, 137 countries (or 73 per cent of the world) ramped up expenditure, with the average annual expansion amounting to 3.3 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). About 50 high and middle-income countries announced fiscal stimulus packages totalling US$2.4 trillion, of which approximately a quarter was invested in social protection measures.
Development aid on the decline
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UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed fears last month that increases in humanitarian aid to thousands of refugees invading Europe could result in sharp cuts on development aid by Western donors.
Confirming those fears, a new report by CONCORD, the European confederation of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) representing all 28 European Union (EU) members, points out aid budgets are increasingly being used to cover refugee and asylum seekers costs: the Netherlands at 145%; Italy 107%; Cyprus 65%; and Portugal 38%.
And despite repeated promises, the EU, as a whole, did not deliver on its commitment to spend 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI) as official development assistance (ODA) by 2015.
More worryingly, says the report, there is an emerging trend in EU countries to divert aid budgets from sustainable development to domestic costs associated with hosting refugees and asylum seekers.
Adoption of the Paris COP 21 agreement
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For some, it is a big victory, for others, an epic failure ...
