Short-Term Labour Market Outlook and Key Challenges in G20 Countries

[Excerpt] The latest available forecasts from the IMF and the OECD point to a weak uptick in economic activity in 2013 and 2014. This will continue to hold back short-term employment growth and hinder progress towards the medium-term objective of restoring the employment to working-age population ratio prevailing before the crisis. Persistently high and mainly cyclical unemployment in several G20 countries is heightening the risks of labour market exclusion and structural unemployment. In over half of countries, the share of longterm unemployment in total unemployment remains above its pre-crisis level. Overall slower economic growth in emerging economies in the last 12 months is weighing on the growth of rewarding and productive formal employment and on the pace of decline in working poverty and underemployment. The situation calls for strong and well-designed employment, labour and social protection policies applied in conjunction with supportive macroeconomic policy mixes to address the underlying demand and supply conditions of each economy. Only a few emerging and advanced countries, applying different policy mixes, have sustained or raised employment levels and seen a decline in unemployment and underemployment. In a majority of G20 countries labour market conditions have either improved only marginally or not improved and deteriorated, at times significantly so. This bears heavily on the underlying strength of the recovery

Co-operation and education: a review of Tom Woodin's 'Co-operation, learning and co-operation, learning and co-operative values'

Organised co-operation has the power to transform inadequate and oppressive social situations, and to enable collective human flourishing – such is the first impression made by this important collection of essays on co-operation and education. The book offers windows onto the rich diversity of co-operative practices that have historically created, nurtured and defended conditions in which non-capitalist and pro-democratic forms of learning can flourish. [...

Sickness and Disability Schemes in the Netherlands

[Excerpt] Like other Western European countries, the Netherlands has adapted and reformed its social security system since the 1980s. As international competition intensifies, a significant share of industrial production has moved to low-wage countries. The high rate of unemployment that ensued caused a dramatic increase in claims for incapacity benefits and later unemployment benefits. Government spending on social security skyrocketed as a result. Consecutive governments wanted to adapt the system to the trends towards flexibility and individualisation of labour market relations. Their efforts culminated in a complete overhaul of the system in 1987. Government spending on social security decreased after the system was reformed, but the number of benefit claimants continued to rise. By the end of the 1980s, the proportion of non-active members of the labour force had increased substantially, as more and more workers claimed incapacity benefits. Now, along with income protection, prevention and reintegration were being incorporated into the system. Another important new goal was activation (i.e. encouraging participation in the workforce), which reduced social exclusion and strengthened the income position of those on benefits by helping them get back to work. This shifted the focus towards the conduct of all the parties involved: employers and employer organisations, employees and the trade unions, benefit claimants and implementing bodies. The measures taken in this period were of a different nature than the reforms of 1987. The key issue now was to increase each party’s vested interest in reducing social security benefit claims

The international symposia on career development and public policy: retrospect and prospect

Between 1999 and 2011, seven international symposia on career development and public policy were held at various venues across the world, and an International Centre was established to support and maintain continuity between these events. These developments were closely intertwined with a number of other significant international developments. The origins of the symposia are described; their core design features are defined; their evolution is outlined and reviewed; and their impact is assessed. This article concludes with a discussion of the prospects for future symposia and for the International Centre

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe 2012 Annual Report

We end the year one participating State stronger. and, as an organization,we remain as committed as ever to our founding principles. i am pleased to welcome Mongolia as the latest country to join our (now) 57-member strong community. this demonstrates the continuing relevance of the oSCE comprehensive approach to security and the viability of the organization as a forum where security issues can be discussed and solutions sought in an open and inclusive manner. We have another first this year: the transnational threats Department was established to provide co-ordination and cohesiveness to OSCE-wide activities. the new TNTD combines OSCE resources in policing, counter-terrorism, borders and cybersecurity, offering new opportunities for enhanced co-operation in an integrated way with many partner organizations, including NATO, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Council of Europe and the European Union. While participating States are clear in supporting a steady development of our activities to address tnts, we have seen that differences remain in other areas of our agenda. this has to do in part with the overall balance, both geopolitical and thematic, of our activities. But it also includes issues such as the QSCE role in working to resolve protracted conflicts, dealing with cybersecurity and addressing freedom of electronic media. This year I launched the first Security Days, an event which brought together prominent experts, members of think tanks, representatives of civil society and OSCE delegates, to discuss current challenges and the role of States and civil society in shaping a security community. More than 250 participants discussed Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian security last June, strengthening interaction between the OSCE and relevant partners. this is one effort to bring more balance to the agenda of the organization by building up and sharpening our focus and activities in the politico-military field. The OSCE has extensive experience in monitoring and organizing elections. Under the leadership of the Chairmanship-in-office, the OSCE also successfully assisted in organizing the Serbian presidential and parliamentary elections in Kosovo. Moreover, we do this with ever-shrinking resources during this worldwide financial crisis. these difficult financial times mean that OSCE must work even more efficiently. I have tried to achieve this by creating synergies with regional and international actors and with our partners for Co-operation. we have adopted the same strategy with think tanks, academic organizations and governments. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our partners who work diligently with us, sharing their ideas and displaying common commitment. My appreciation also goes to Tanaiste, Eamon Gilmore, for his excellent work as Chairperson in 2012. Assisted by a very committed team, he worked with strong determination throughout the year and was particularly successful in highlighting important issues like promoting progress towards conflict resolution, freedom of expression and good governance. I would also like to express my profound gratitude to the dedicated women and men who serve the OSCE in the Secretariat, the institutions, the Field operations and the Parliamentary Assembly

Specialisation through co-operation between farms in organic farming

Co-operation in organic production provides the potential for production specialisation with the help of co-operation in machinery use, input integration, crop rotation, shared buildings and marketing. Co-operation models provide the opportunity to optimise production between different lines of production from environmental, economic and functional perspectives

Models of co-operation in Germany’s migrant services

This comparative research project looks at the co-operation between state and social organizations (SOs) in China and Germany. It focusses on social service delivery in the area of integration of migrating populations with special attention to the fields of education, employment, vulnerable groups and social assistance (incl. legal aid) as a crosscutting issue to all of the fields. Within this subject area, the project wants to identify different models of state-SO co-operation and analyze which models are successful and why and where this co-operation is problematic. It aims to capture the different models of co-operation in Germany and China, to analyze and compare the underlying structures and to show potentialities for development