Expert Dialogue on Dignified Work for All, Zoom Webinar

Exploring innovative solutions to addressing poverty and social exclusion through access to dignified work. / Texte français en bas de page

For most people living in poverty worldwide, their work does not mean earning a living wage. It means exploitation, very low pay, difficult or dangerous conditions, and forced layoffs. People and youth living in poverty are often excluded from accessing decent work opportunities. Many of these people are not part of the traditional labor force. For this reason, their work and expertise are unrecognized and unrepresented.

In the context of the 61st Commission for Social Development, this expert dialogue seeks to explore how, in practice, work should enable people to live in dignity, to support their families and to be recognized as useful members of their society.

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The dialogue will bring together activists with a lived experience of poverty from France, eco-social-business representatives, academics and International organizations representatives to discuss innovative and inclusive programmes. Topics include the importance of addressing poverty-based discrimination, creating work opportunities to generate new economic resources and re-establish social engagement, to ensure the rights, dignity, and well-being of all, especially that of individuals and families with a lived experience of poverty.

A delegation from France will be presenting the project Zero Long-Term Unemployment Zones (TZCLD) a network of experimental social-businesses, which hire, on a voluntary basis, long-term unemployed people on permanent contracts, at minimum wage and on time, to do work that is locally useful but not carried out because it is considered unprofitable for the traditional market. These businesses are funded, for the most part, by the reallocation of costs and lost earnings associated with long-term unemployment. TZCLD is based on three hypotheses that suggest that it is humanly and economically possible to eliminate long-term unemployment at the local level. The first hypothesis is that no one is unemployable, when the job is suited to people’s abilities and skills. The second follows that it’s not the work that’s missing, a large number of useful jobs, of a great diversity, remain to be carried out. And the third– It's not the money that's missing, as it is job deprivation that costs more than the production of additional jobs.

This event will also include representatives from Working and Learning Together - Electronics Recycling (WALTER), an eco-social business in Brooklyn, New York, USA, operating in the very under-resourced neighborhood of Brownsville, which provides job opportunities for people facing persistent barriers to employment with an emphasis on youths. With an objective of showing that no one is unemployable and that thanks to collective mobilization, the economy can be at the service of people and the planet, provided that those furthest away are at the heart of the process, WALTER is also a fully private company with the objective of being profitable.

Texte en Français :

Pour de nombreuses personnes vivant dans la pauvreté dans le monde, leur travail ne signifie pas gagner un salaire décent. Il est synonyme d'exploitation, de salaires très bas, de conditions difficiles ou dangereuses et de licenciements forcés. Les personnes et les jeunes vivant dans la pauvreté sont souvent exclus de l'accès à des opportunités de travail décent.

Cet événement est organisé dans le cadre de la 61ème session de la Commission des Nations Unies pour le développement social. Il vise à explorer comment, dans la pratique et par des solutions innovantes, le travail devrait permettre aux personnes de vivre dans la dignité, de subvenir aux besoins de leur famille et d'être reconnues comme des membres utiles à la société.

Le dialogue réunira des militants français ayant une expérience vécue de la pauvreté, des représentants d'entreprises éco-sociales, des universitaires et des représentants d'organisations internationales pour discuter de programmes innovants et inclusifs.

Une délégation française présentera le projet Territoires Zéro chômage de longue durée (TZCLD), un réseau d'entreprises sociales expérimentales qui embauchent des chômeurs de longue durée sous contrat à durée indéterminée, au salaire minimum, pour effectuer des travaux utiles localement mais non réalisés car considérés comme non rentables pour le marché traditionnel.

Cet événement accueillera également un représentant de "Travailler et Apprendre Ensemble Recyclage Électronique"(WALTER), une entreprise éco-sociale de Brooklyn, New York, États-Unis, opérant dans le quartier très défavorisé de Brownsville, qui offre des possibilités d'emploi aux jeunes confrontées à des obstacles persistants à l'emploi.