International organisations and the future of work: How new technologies and inequality shaped the narratives in 2019

2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 477-507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damian Grimshaw
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Industrial Development ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
International Organisations ◽  
Development Organization ◽  
Future Of Work ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future

In a critical review of seven prominent flagship reports from five international organisations – the International Labour Organization (ILO), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and World Bank – this article explores how the policy narratives set out during 2019 and early 2020 have characterised the major future of work challenges associated with new technologies and inequality. It identifies some similarities in viewpoints, including about the unevenness of job changes caused by new technologies and about the declining labour income share, a key measure of inequality. However, there are major points of differentiation. The ILO, OECD and UNDP express serious concerns about the interaction between new technologies and growing inequalities, on the one hand, and a rise in precarious work, concentration of corporate power and erosion of labour bargaining power on the other. Also, UNIDO emphasises the inequalities in technological capacities between developed and developing countries, which make it difficult for markets to distribute the gains from growth evenly. While the World Bank makes some concessions, it remains less open to real-world heterodox evidence about how labour markets function in society. The World Bank aside, there is a growing consensus that labour institutions around the world need to be reinvigorated in order to respond to the challenges facing the future of work.

scholarly journals Small-scale mining – hazards and opportunities in Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia

2005 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 77-80
Author(s):  
Peter W.U. Appel
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Development ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Industrial Development ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Gold Extraction ◽  
International Labour Organisation ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World

Small-scale mining is the main source of income for about 100 million people in Asia, Africa and South America. However, the processing of raw materials during this mining activity results in the release of large amounts of mercury to the environment, creating serious environmental problems. Small-scale mining, or artisanal mining, is exploitation using only shovels, picks and hammers, carried out by individuals or small groups. A wide variety of commodities are exploited in this way, ranging from gold, diamonds, precious stones, tin, coal, dimension stones and slate. Small-scale mining is often carried out by labourers with virtually no knowledge of safety procedures. Tunnel cave-ins leading to loss of life are common, and the widespread use of mercury in gold extraction causes many long-term health problems for the miners. It is estimated that about 650 tonnes of mercury are annually released during small-scale mining to the environment, and this figure is likely to increase in the future. Mercury is highly toxic and its use causes health problems not only for the miners, but also to the entire population in areas where small-scale mining takes place. Some miners are aware of the dangers of using mercury, but have no knowledge of recycling procedures. Several international organisations, such as the World Bank, UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organisation), ILO (International Labour Organisation) and UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), have launched programmes to examine the problems associated with small-scale mining. Progress so far has been slow, and much more international awareness of the global mercury pollution of the environment from smallscale mining is required. The Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) has worked as consultant to the World Bank on projects involving small-scale mining in Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Laos, and has also undertaken programmes concerning small-scale mining in Lesotho for UNDP and in Tanzania for the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA). This paper reports on some of the initiatives carried out in Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia, to secure and sustain the small-scale mining industry in these regions.

Conference on the Role of Industrialisation in Developing Countries

1964 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 440-442
Author(s):  
Ronald Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
United Nations ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Business Executives ◽  
Agricultural Revolution ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
The United Nations

At the fourth Cambridge conference on development problems, the role of industry was discussed by ministers, senior officials, economic advisers, and business executives, from 22 African, Asian, and Caribbean countries, the United Nations, and the World Bank. Have some, if not all, of Africa's new nations now reached the stage when it would pay them to put their biggest bets on quick industrialisation? Or must they go on putting most of their money and brains into bringing about an agricultural revolution first, before striving for industrial take-off? These questions started the conference off on one of its big themes.

El Salvador's “Model” Democracy

2005 ◽  
Vol 104 (679) ◽  
pp. 77-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Holiday
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
United Nations ◽  
El Salvador ◽  
World Bank ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World ◽  
Us Government ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Peace And Reconciliation

In the immediate aftermath of the 1992 peace accords, El Salvador was cited frequently by the United Nations and even the World Bank as a country that, with the international community's help, effectively managed its transition from civil war to peace and reconciliation. Thirteen years later, only the US government views the Salvadoran model so favorably.

Advancing Regional Integration in Africa through the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA)

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
F. A. Ismail
Keyword(s):  
Trade Liberalization ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Industrial Development ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
African Union ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World

AbstractThe past decade and a half of the new millennium has ushered in dramatic changes to the architecture of world trade creating both opportunities and challenges for Africa’s development. The paper is critical of the recent paper of the World Bank that resuscitates the approach to trade liberalization and regional integration propagated by the Washington Consensus. The paper argues that African countries should adopt a “development integration” approach to regional integration that seeks to combine trade liberalization, industrial development and infrastructure development. The paper urges the World Bank and Africa’s trading partners from the north and south, such as the EU, the US and China, to work closely with the African Union to advance the negotiations and implementation of the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) and the African Union Agenda 2063.

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