[DEBATE] : ILO supporting PPPs

[Peter Waterman]

Happy Mayday, David!

It's nice that SOMEONE recognises, on this day in particular, that the 
International Labour Organisation does not consist of sugar and spice and 
all things nice.

I have been arguing for some time that we need a labour and social movement 
campaign to re-invent the ILO on its 100th anniversary, 2019.

Since its foundation the ILO has had a 75% representation of capital and 
state and a 25% representation of labour (with this itself represented by 
unions that organise well under 20 of the world's workers).

Add to this its foundational ideology of social partnership (bipartite or 
tripartite), by which is actually meant labour's subordinate partnership 
with capital-and-state.

And let us not forget the moment and motive for its creation: the 
revolutionary fervour before and following World War One and the Russian 
Revolution of 1917.

My proposal, which seems to me extremely reasonable (reasonably extreme) is 
to raise labour's representation to 50%, to open up this 50% to pro-labour 
movements and NGOs. And, I would now add, to turn labour's activities within 
the ILO from something confined to officers and offices, into a matter of 
permanent concern for the relevant public (the labour movement).

A radically-democratic reinvention of the ILO should, finally, be seen as 
part of a general process of putting 'Global Governance in Question' - title 
of a new book by Susanne Soederberg (of your university?) just out with 
Pluto Books in London.

Best,

PW
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David McDonald" <dm23 at queensu.ca>
To: "'debate: SA discussion list '" <debate at lists.kabissa.org>
Sent: Monday, April 30, 2007 10:42 PM
Subject: [DEBATE] : ILO supporting PPPs


| In case anyone was under the illusion that the ILO was progressive or that
| ideological changes were taking place in UN agencies on privatization, the
| following course on "pro-poor" PPPs supported by these organizations 
should
| disabuse you of that.  And the cost.a mere US$2665.
|
|
|
| The second edition of the training and knowledge-sharing course on
| public-private partnerships (PPP) for urban development, organised by
| International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization
| (ITC-ILO), takes place at end of May in Turin, Italy.
|
| Public-private partnerships for decent jobs and better services in the 
urban
| context
| Interregional Training and Knowledge Sharing Workshop (Ref.: A900830)
| 21 - 25 May 2007
| ITC-ILO, Turin (Italy)
|
| Background
| The worldwide number of slum dwellers stood at about 1 billion in 2001. By
| 2030, this number is projected to increase to 2 billion. Slums will 
continue
| to expand, even in fast growing developing economies. They are the 
physical
| manifestation of growing urban poverty.
| The 'urbanization of poverty' poses an urban management challenge,
| particularly in sustaining the provision of adequate infrastructure, basic
| municipal and social services and jobs. National and municipal governments
| are trying to respond to the growing demands of urban residents, with and
| without support from the international donor community. On the other hand,
| grass-roots organizations representing the poor are often driving the 
local
| development process with their own resources.
| An increasing number of local initiatives to upgrade basic infrastructure
| and provide urban services (water supply, waste management, etc.) are 
being
| referred to as "public-private partnerships". Over the years, many forms 
of
| such partnerships have been developed, spanning a wide spectre with
| different partners and varying aims. In essence, public-private 
partnerships
| (PPPs) refer to an arrangement with at least two parties - one from the
| public (Government) sector and one from the private (non-Governmental)
| sector. More inclusive partnerships involve a range of partners, from 
local
| government, business/business associations, communities and the wider 
civil
| society. Though these alliances are very context-driven and hence there is
| no one model for how they should be structured, the rationale remains to
| bring together the skills and resources of diverse actors in joint
| activities, in a way that all actors will be able to achieve more than by
| working on their own.
| A common feature of PPP schemes, notably those supported by international
| development agencies, is that they target the poor, either as 
beneficiaries
| of the services and the generated jobs, or also as actual partners in the
| implementation of the partnerships. The potential of PPP for urban poverty
| reduction has been underlined in recent global reports, and the political
| will and the popular consensus for pro-poor public-private partnerships 
are
| growing fast in many countries. Good practices abound, and the development
| banks are becoming more active to provide loans that emphasize and promote
| the use of such practices. Still, these efforts and investments aiming at
| improved access and capabilities of the urban poor could be made more
| effective if supported by a good exchange of experience, by greater
| willingness to harmonize different approaches and by putting together
| capacity building tools that can address the many and changing needs of
| local stakeholders. 1
| In its second edition (a first event of this type was run in 2006), the
| proposed workshop is intended to contribute to such an exchange and to
| stimulate joint initiatives to the benefit of the poor. The workshop is
| organised by the International Training Centre of the ILO (ITC-ILO) in
| collaboration with the International Labour Office in Geneva, the
| UNDP/PPP-SD Programme and UN-HABITAT.
|
| Objectives of the workshop
| This interregional workshop will complement and reinforce other existing
| training and knowledge sharing efforts on public private partnership for
| urban development. It will bring together a wide range of actors active in
| this field, in the attempt to:
| a. Increase mutual understanding of pro-poor public-private partnership
| b. Discuss the benefits of and constraints on working in partnership to
| reach the poor
| c. Share the experiences of different agencies and programmes which are
| promoting PPP in the urban setting
| d. Learn from successful practices
| e. Identify opportunities for networking and collaboration among the
| represented institutions and programmes.
|
| At the end of the workshop, participants will have learned, or will better
| appreciate, what makes PPP work for the urban poor. They will have 
acquired
| notions, guidelines, practical examples and tools pertinent to the 
subjects
| treated. They will be better equipped to engage in constructive
| consultations and joint action towards improved service provision, urban
| employment creation and local economic development.
| Target audience
| The workshop is primarily addressed to:
|            o Local politicians and senior municipal staff
|            o Private companies in infrastructure and municipal service
| delivery
|            o NGOs and civil society organisations
|            o Workers' and employers' organisations
|            o Chambers of commerce and other business groups (including
| contractor associations)
|            o Managers and senior staff of urban development programmes
|            o Local development organisations
|
| The workshop is also open to:
|            o Interested parties at higher levels of government (finance,
| labour, housing, etc.)
|            o National and regional development banks
|            o International Financing Institutions
|            o Multilateral and bilateral development agencies
|            o Relevant research, educational and training institutions
|
| The participation of women is strongly encouraged.
| A good command of the English language is essential for an effective
| participation.
| Methodology
| In preparing and facilitating this event the staff of the Turin Centre 
will
| team up with technical specialists and experts from the ILO, UNDP,
| UN-HABITAT and other relevant institutions, organisations and programmes,
| and also make use of pertinent tools and materials developed by these
| development actors.
| As appropriate, the workshop will combine plenary and group work sessions.
| Each of the thematic sessions will start with an introduction of major
| issues, challenges and opportunities. This will be followed by 
interventions
| of selected speakers, and open or structured discussions. A highly
| participatory approach will be adopted throughout the event for ensuring 
an
| active intervention of all participants and a constructive exchange of 
ideas
| and information. 2
| In conformity with the Turin Centre procedures, an evaluation of the
| workshop will be carried out to determine the perceived relevance of the
| programme to the needs of participants and the effectiveness of the
| methodology employed and materials used in achieving the workshop's
| objectives.
|
|
|
| Programme
| The workshop will focus on PPP approaches applied at municipal level for
| improving the life of slum dwellers and other urban poor. It will deal 
with
| the differences and commonalities of the various approaches, and look at
| some critical issues for establishing effective, sustainable and 
replicable
| partnerships. The workshop will include the following sessions:
| The PPP concept and its application at municipal level
| This introductory session will consider the general concept of
| public-private partnership and how it has been viewed and practiced so far
| in relation to national development agendas. After the presentations, an
| open discussion will allow gathering the participants' experiences with 
PPPs
| for infrastructure development and municipal service delivery.
| Making PPP's work for the urban poor: towards a common vision
| PPPs can be instrumental in addressing some of the key concerns of the 
poor,
| such as community organization and representation, security of land 
tenure,
| shelter, and access to affordable services and employment opportunities.
| This interactive session will reflect on the commonalities between 
existing
| approaches and practices in the attempt to characterise local partnerships
| which are pro-poor.
| PPP and local governance
| The lack of trust and consultation among different local stakeholders
| (administration, business, civil society) represent obstacles to the
| establishment of PPPs which integrate a developmental approach. This 
session
| will review the specific interests and the roles and responsibilities of 
the
| actors concerned, which will allow grasping the complexities and
| difficulties of negotiating deals between multiple parties with each 
having
| different objectives. It will also look at how city/territorial 
development
| processes can facilitate dialogue and negotiation.
| Legal and regulatory frameworks
| This session will deal with policies, legislation and regulations 
necessary
| for encouraging the private sector (whether large or small, international 
or
| local) and the local communities to engage in pro-poor PPPs. It will focus
| on domestic business registration/accreditation processes, procurement,
| tendering and contracting issues. In fact, there is a large untapped
| potential for involving different types of enterprises, community
| organizations and (associations of) small enterprises in public 
procurement
| for the delivery of basic services and infrastructures. Also, pro-poor
| tendering processes and contracts can be developed whereby there is equal 
or
| even biased access for small local enterprises.
| Employment and labour issues
| Urban development strategies can be explicitly made more pro-poor by
| optimizing the employment impact of physical upgrading strategies in
| infrastructure and service delivery. This is partly depending in the 
choice
| of technology, the efforts to engage and upgrade local labour and the
| promotion of good management practices among local enterprises. Practice
| shows that labour-based approaches and the targeted promotion of local 
small
| enterprises and community groups can be effective if mainstreamed in the
| planning, design, construction/delivery and maintenance of infrastructure
| and services. Some country cases will be used during this session to
| illustrate the employment dimension of PPP arrangements, with reference to
| the quantity and quality (labour practices) of jobs created.
| PPP for financially sustainable service delivery 3
| Public-private partnerships can provide a means to pool resources from 
local
| and international development partners to complement local government
| efforts at financing and operating services to make them more accessible 
and
| affordable for the poor. This session will focus on investment sources,
| financial services and cost-recovery mechanisms. It will consider the
| investment management skills required for a successful partnership, and
| appropriate products and services (e.g. micro-leasing) to be provided by 
the
| financial sector to micro-small and medium enterprises and community 
groups
| that lack sufficient collateral. It will also look at the critical aspects
| of a cost recovery strategy, including the
|
|
|
| accessibility for all clients, the reliability of service providers, and 
the
| quality of service. It will also afford participants the opportunity to
| learn about basic cash flow analysis for a PPP service.
| Performance and impact assessment
| How do we assess the performance, effectiveness and impact of a 
partnership
| approach to urban service provision? Based on the outcome of previous
| discussions, the facilitators will interact with participants in the 
attempt
| to define possible indicators and assessment modalities reflecting the
| interests of the different stakeholders, and giving due attention to both
| the economic and social aspects.
| Learning and knowledge-sharing
| The main issue discussed during this session is how to jointly improve
| effectiveness and achieve much larger outreach, considering that most
| agencies have developed pertinent working tools, practices, data bases and
| learning programmes. Existing networking and knowledge-sharing 
opportunities
| will be presented, and the possibilities to institutionalise capacity
| building programmes among local Government organizations and training
| providers will also be discussed.
| Pro-poor PPP - Orientations for future work
| Based on the outcome of earlier presentations and discussions, this group
| work session will seek to identify innovative forms of pro-poor 
partnership
| and formulate proposals to establish such partnerships. The groups will 
also
| reflect on possible options for mainstreaming the identified PPP
| arrangements.
| Venue and Dates
| The workshop will be held at the International Training Centre of the ILO 
in
| Turin (Italy), from 21 to 25 May 2007 (5 working days).
| Cost and financing
| The workshop is fee-paying and priced at US$ 2,665. This amount covers
| course fees and participant subsistence as detailed here:
| a. Tuition fees (US$ 1,570) cover: programme development and management,
| facilitation, inputs by subject matter specialists, secretarial and
| technical assistance to training, use of teaching equipment, classroom and
| office supplies, internal reproduction of training material, training
| resources, communications and administrative support costs.
| b. Participant subsistence (US$ 1,095) includes: board and lodging (bed &
| breakfast; two meals per day), access to campus facilities and services
| (laundry, sport facilities, social life service, insurance and minor 
medical
| care), pocket money (EUR 12/day) and miscellaneous (transfer from/to Turin
| airport, water in classroom, course dinner, and group photo).
| The prices shown do not include the cost of travel from/to the 
participant's
| home. This cost should be borne by the participant or his/her sponsor(s).
| The organizers are in a position to cost-share the participation of a
| limited number of selected candidates.
|
| Registration
| Candidates should register directly with the International Training Centre
| of the ILO by sending a duly filled copy of the application form not later
| than 20 April 2007.
| For expressions of interest, queries and additional information, please
| contact:
|
| Activity Manager: Valter NEBULONI
| Employment and Skills Development Programme
| Tel.: +39.011.6936432 / Fax: 6936451
| E-mail: v.nebuloni at itcilo.org
| Course Assistants:
| Martha TIRELLI
| Tel.: +39.011.6936999 / E-mail: m.tirelli at itcilo.org
| Anna DAMOUNI
| Tel.: 6936409 / E-mail: a.damouni at itcilo.org
|
|
|
| 4
|


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


_______________________________________________
DEBATE mailing list
DEBATE at lists.kabissa.org
http://lists.kabissa.org/mailman/listinfo/debate


-- 
I am using the free version of SPAMfighter for private users.
It has removed 695 spam emails to date.
Paying users do not have this message in their emails.
Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len