Measuring decent work
Monitoring progress towards decent work is a long-standing concern for the ILO’s constituents. Yet, the multifaceted nature of the Decent Work Agenda that combines access to full and productive employment with rights at work, social protection and the promotion of social dialogue means that measurement is a complex task. The ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization thus recommends that member States may consider “the establishment of appropriate indicators or statistics, if necessary with the assistance of the ILO, to monitor and evaluate progress made”.
Following a Tripartite Meeting of Experts held in September 2008, the Governing Body agreed to test a comprehensive approach to the Measurement of Decent Work during 2009 by compiling detailed indicator definitions and preparing decent work country profiles for a limited number of pilot countries. The 18th International Conference of Labour Statisticians endorsed this approach. In collaboration with the Department of Statistics, other technical units and the ILO’s field offices, the Policy Integration Department is coordinating Office work in this field.
The department is also currently implementing the project ‘Monitoring and Assessing Progress on Decent Work’ (MAP) with funding from the European Union. Over a period of four years (2009 to 2012), the project aims to facilitate the identification of decent work indicators that are relevant at the national level (based on the outcome of the Tripartite Meeting of Experts held in September 2008); support data collection; and use the collected data for an integrated policy analysis of decent work in order to make them relevant for policy-making.