GLOBAL RECESSION TO HAVE LASTING IMPACT ON LATIN AMERICAN ECONOMIES – UN OFFICIAL

Higher unemployment figures, lower economic growth, falling trade and stubborn fiscal deficits are among the lingering effects the global financial crisis will have on Latin American countries, the top United Nations official for the region warned today.

The after-shocks of the global meltdown have infected the region through a sharp decline in remittances, shrinking external demand for goods and services and changes in the relative price of exports, said Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

Ms. Bárcena highlighted trade as one of the hardest hit sectors in the region, in her opening address to the 2009 Summer School on Latin American Economies, whose theme is "The Real Impact of the Global Economic Crisis: A Latin American Perspective."

In April, trade was slashed by almost 32 per cent compared to the same month in 2008, with a 29.2 per cent drop in exports and 34.6 per cent decrease in imports during the same period, Ms. Bárcena told the gathering at ECLAC headquarters in Santiago, Chile.

She added that a cut in foreign direct investment of between 35 and 45 per cent is expected this year, while unemployment is estimated to climb to 9 per cent and money sent home by nationals living and working outside the region will fall by some 5 to 10 per cent.

Although there are signs of economic recovery, it will be a slow, gradual process, Ms. Bárcena warned the some 29 post-graduate students from Argentina, Belgium, Bolivia, Canada, Korea, Chile, Ecuador, France, Italy, Mexico and Spain, who will complete the ECLAC seminar on 30 September.

During the economic recession in the 1980s, it took 12 years for economies in the region to recover but as long as 24 years for social indicators to reach their pre-crisis levels, she said, predicting that the future comprises of lower growth in developed countries, more participation of developing countries in global growth and stricter regulations on financial systems.
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HELP WOMEN WEATHER ECONOMIC CRISIS, UN OFFICIAL TELLS ASIA-PACIFIC NATIONS

The top United Nations official in the Asia-Pacific region has called on countries to help women weather the ongoing economic crisis, including by promoting their interests as part of governmentstimulus packages.

Noeleen Heyzer urged members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) bloc to seize the opportunity to build not just a new economic infrastructure but also a progressive one.

"We must make sure that growth is more inclusive and socially equitable," said Ms. Heyzer, the Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

"This includes ensuring that women have access to opportunities to participate in national economic recovery and that they emerge from this crisis in a better position to participate in our region's bright economic future," she said in a keynote address to the 14th APEC Women Leaders Network (WLN) meeting in Bangkok.

The region's poor, particularly women, could face tough times ahead as countries in Asia and the Pacific seek to restart their economies in the aftermath of the global economic slowdown, she warned.

At the same time, she noted that the Asia-Pacific region has the second highest ratio of employed women of working age in the world at 49 per cent, even constituting the majority of low-skilled workers in labour-intensive manufacturing industries such as textiles and apparels, leather products and electronics.

However, the crisis has revealed a number of issues affecting women in the workplace, such as the trends toward outsourcing and subcontracting.

Research carried out by the Economic Commission shows that restricting women's access to work, education and health services comes at significant economic costs, totalling between $42 billion and $47 billion each year in losses to countries in Asia and the Pacific.

Ms. Heyzer noted that while fiscal stimulus packages containing large infrastructure and public works projects are one of the most effective ways to reach a wide range of unemployed workers without regard to skills, most of these jobs are in construction where 80 to 90 per cent of jobs are held by men.

One of the ways to create employment opportunities for women, she said, is to ensure funding for health, education and agricultural extension services, and investments in small- and medium-scale enterprises.

APEC members already had some of the most successful practices of social development and vibrant businesses in the world, she noted. "Let us build upon these successes. Releasing the full potential of women is not only good for women, it is also smart economics."
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UN LABOUR AGENCY RAISES ESTIMATES OF WORLD UNEMPLOYMENT

UN LABOUR AGENCY RAISES ESTIMATES OF WORLD UNEMPLOYMENT
New York, May 28 2009 6:00PM
The International Labour Organization (ILO) today revised upwards its estimates of worldwide unemployment, and called for a "global jobs pact" to address the current crisis.

In statistics released today, the <"http://www.ilo.org/global/About_the_ILO/Media_and_public_information/Press_releases/lang--en/WCMS_106525/index.htm">ILO said it estimated that in the period of 2007 to 2009 between 210 million and 239 million persons would be unemployed, representing global unemployment rates of 6.5 and 7.4 per cent respectively, or increases of between 39 and 59 million unemployed people since 2007.

Three months ago the ILO projected that global unemployment was likely to increase by between 24 million – an unemployment rate of 6.3 per cent – to 52 million people – or 7.1 per cent – for the same period.

"We are seeing an unprecedented increase in unemployment and the number of workers at risk of falling into poverty around the world this year," said ILO Director-General Juan Somavia.

"This is cause for grave concern. To avoid a global social recession we need a global jobs pact to address this crisis, and mitigate its effects on people. The choice is ours and the time to act is now."

The ILO said projections indicate that 200 million workers are at risk of joining the ranks of people living on less than $2 per day between 2007 and 2009.

The number of unemployed youth is expected to increase by between 11 and 17 million from 2008 to 2009. The youth unemployment rate is projected to increase from around 12 per cent in 2008 to a range of 14 to 15 per cent in 2009.

Mr. Somavia said past experience suggested a considerable lag of four to five years on average in the recovery in labour markets after economic recovery. There was a risk of the global jobs crisis persisting for the next several years, he said.

He aid the ILO's annual International Labour Conference, to be held in Geneva from 3 to 19 June, was to consider the emergency global jobs pact which "aimed at placing employment creation and social protection at the centre of recovery policies."

"The aim of the pact is to make sure that both the extraordinary stimulus measures together with other government policies better address the needs of people who need protection and work, in order to accelerate combined economic and employment recovery," he said.

The ILO also said that between 2009 and 2015, some 300 million new jobs will have to be created just to absorb the growth in the labour force.
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NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED WOMEN TO SOAR AMID ECONOMIC CRISIS, WARNS UN AGENCY

NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED WOMEN TO SOAR AMID ECONOMIC CRISIS, WARNS UN AGENCY
New York, Mar 5 2009 6:00PM

The global economic crisis will plunge a further 22 million women into unemployment and make decent work for women increasingly more difficult to find in 2009, predicted a new United Nations report issued today.

The International Labour Office (ILO) launched its annual Global Employment Trends for Women (GET) report in advance of International Women's Day on 8 March, calling for "creative solutions" to close the gender gap.

"Gender inequality in the world of work has long been with us, but it is likely that it will be exacerbated by the crisis," warned the agency's Director-General Juan Somavia.

"In times of economic upheaval, women often experience the negative consequences more rapidly and are slower to enjoy the benefits of recovery," he said, adding that "before the crisis, the majority of working women were in the informal economy with lower earnings and less social protection."

The GET report noted that of the 3 billion employed people across the world, slightly over a 40 per cent are women, and that the global unemployment rate for women could reach 7.4 per cent in 2009, compared to 7 per cent for men.

The biggest difference in unemployment rates between men and women due to the economic meltdown will be felt by women in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to the ILO report.

The new publication also projected that the ratio of women pushed into insecure jobs this year would be greater than men, with the global vulnerability employment rate ranging from 50.5 to 54.7 per cent for women and 47.2 to 51.8 per cent for men.

"Women's lower employment rates, weaker control over property and resources, concentration in informal and vulnerable forms of employment with lower earnings, and less social protection, all place women in a weaker position than men to weather the crises," said Jane Hodges, ILO Bureau for Gender Equality Director.
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