Global Employment and Social Outlook

The annual report of the International Labour Organization (ILO) titled "Global Employment and Social Outlook" has been published. The title of this year's report is "Transforming Employment Conditions to End Poverty." This year's report focuses on poverty reduction and how it is influenced by income inequality and the availability or quantity of quality jobs in both developing and developed countries. The report provides an estimate of the cost of eradicating extreme and moderate poverty globally. According to this report, it is estimated that nearly two billion people in emerging and developing economies live on less than $3.10 a day (this figure is an average considering the cost of living differences in various countries). These two billion people represent about 36% or one-third of the total population of emerging and developing economies. The report indicates that this figure is nearly half of what was assessed in 1990, 26 years ago, when initial international commitments to reduce poverty were accepted. It adds that during this period, extreme poverty, defined as living on less than $1.90 a day, decreased even faster, reaching 15% of the total population in emerging and developing economies by 2012. The annual ILO report does not include statistics from some countries, including Iran, and notes that data is unavailable. Radio Farda raised this question with the ILO. Florence Boon, a senior economist in the research department of the ILO in Geneva, told Radio Farda: "The examination of poverty, in general, can only be assessed based on age or labor market status as done in the report, with a set of disaggregated data. This means access to details; data calculated by national statistical offices. Therefore, we used data from as many countries as possible, but access to some disaggregated datasets in certain countries has been more difficult, especially in countries like Iran and Australia. That is why data from these countries is not available in the report." A key finding of this year's ILO report is that sustainable poverty reduction will not be possible without decent work. In other words, decent work, while not sufficient by itself, is a necessary condition for eradicating poverty. The ILO estimates that to eradicate extreme and moderate poverty by 2030, nearly $10 trillion will be needed over the next 14 years. The ILO annual report emphasizes that achieving such a goal realistically cannot be accomplished solely through income transfers and that the solution to this issue requires more than just the availability of resources.