People and the work they do must be at the centre of economic and social policies and business practice, President Cyril Ramaphosa said during the ongoing UN International Global Commission on the Future of Work in Geneva.
The commission earlier this year released its Future of Work Report which spelled out investment in people’s capabilities, institutions of work, and decent and sustainable work to be at the centre of human activities as part of social justice, Ramaphosa said on Tuesday in the Swiss city.
Social justice remains a central aspiration for workers globally, who yearn for a better future. Under the first pillar of the report, the commission recommends for an effective lifelong learning system, said the South African leader who is co-chair of the commission.
“Employees should be provided with suitable opportunities to re-skill and up-skill them. We propose a reallocation of public spending to encourage universal, lifelong social protection, funded through contributory social protection schemes,” Ramaphosa said, quoting the report.
The second recommendation is to step up investments in institutions, policies and strategies that would support people through the transitions associated with changes in the world of work, he added.
A transformative and measurable agenda for gender equality is highlighted as the third recommendation under the pillar on people’s capabilities, the South African leader said.
The report noted, for example, that women still perform three-quarters of all unpaid care work in the world, and called for a policy change in this regard by all governments, the president said.
Ramaphosa is participating in the centurion celebrations of the ILO in the Swiss city.
NM/jn/APA