Enhancing the Knowledge Base to Support the Promotion of Decent Work in rural Areas

The access of rural women and men to decent work and productive employment is one of the key challenges of sustainable development today. Measuring and monitoring decent work requires the production of timely and reliable information on relevant employment and labour issues, which can support research and inform decision-making. Rural areas in countries around the world are dynamic geographical zones whose diverse and changing populations, economic activities and decent work characteristics can be uniquely captured over time through the development and analysis of two types of decent work indicators, i.e. statistical and legal framework decent work indicators. The International Labour Organization (ILO) works closely with national data producers and tripartite constituents to enhance the knowledge base to support the promotion of decent work in rural areas, by helping to establish, as well as assess over time, a set of feasible decent work indicators disaggregated by rural/urban areas. These reflect national priorities and are commensurate with the available human and financial resources along with the national statistical infrastructure. The ILO seeks to accompany national stakeholders as a technical partner in this process. It offers technical assistance and advice, encouraging the alignment of country practices and methods with international labour statistics standards and good practices, providing capacity building and sharing knowledge products, such as ILO statistical publications and manuals, guidelines and tools.