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Local Agenda 21

URBAN ECONOMY | labour market

This section focuses on employment and labour markets, including small and medium enterprise development, income generation initiatives and opportunities, skills enhancement, and new directions in labour market segmentation.
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quick links

local level city level
  international level websites
 

local level

UN-Habitat (2002) - Processes of community development generation employment, Cauca - UN-Habitat / Best Practice [pdf]

Colombia-The project is based on integral attention to strengthen companies through actions that support production areas, trade and commercialisation of these areas and improvement of business administration. Another aspect that this initiative worked on was strengthening the company families by integrating fathers with their children and management of the family business.

 

city level

ANTOINE, Philippe; Mireille Razafindrakoto & François Roubaud (2001) - Contraints de rester jeune ? Evolution de l’insertion dans trois capitales africaines : Dakar, Yaoundé, Antananarivo - DIAL [pdf]

Victims of the long crisis that has affected their countries, the youth of three African capitals (Dakar, Yaoundé, and Antananarivo) find themselves forced to postpone their entry into adult life. They postpone not only obtaining their first paid employment but also moving into their first home and founding a family. Neither their higher level of education, nor the delays in attaining adult status protect their future, nor prevent worsening living conditions compared to those of their parents’ generation at their coming of age. In fact, we are witnessing a situation where the higher the education level, the more these young people are disadvantaged by the deterioration of the economic environment.
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Cogneau, Denis (2001) - Formation du revenu, segmentation et discrimination sur le marché du travail d’une ville en développement : Antananarivo fin de siècle - DIAL [pdf]

Madagascar-The paper proposes a micro-macro model of labour market of a developing city, and its empirical implementation on the case of the capital town of Madagascar, Antananarivo. The model recognises the existence of measured and unmeasured heterogeneity of skills, preferences and opportunities within even narrowly defined socio-demographic groups.
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UN-Habitat (2002) - Public Works and Environmental Improvements, Jonava - UN-Habitat / Best Practice[pdf]

Lithuania -The purpose of establishing a recreational zone in Jonava, Lithuania, was three-fold. Firstly, it was acknowledged that public works projects carried out by local labour exchanges and municipalities often have solved social problems rather than unemployment problems in the sense that the participants temporarily have received an income and/or have regained the right to receive unemployment benefit, but have returned to unemployment after the termination of the public works project.
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UN-Habitat (2002) - Intergrated Embroidery Centre - Otelarilor - UN-Habitat / Best Practice [pdf]

Romania - he project aimed at joining several entrepreneurs in the field of textile clothing; the carrying out of their activities contributed to raising the number of working places. The innovative characteristic consisted in using up to date cutting and embroidering technologies that ensure the high quality of the manufactured products. Beneficiaries were both firms and individuals.
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UN-Habitat (2002) - Orchard Park and North Hull Enterprises Limited, Kingston-Upon-Hull - UN-Habitat / Best Practice [pdf]

United Kingdom - Orchard Park and North Hull Enterprises Ltd (OPNHE Ltd) is a local economic development agency based in Orchard Park and North Hull, two extremely disadvantaged housing estates on the northern edge of the city of Kingston-Upon-Hull. Since its establishment in 1989 the company works on a non-profit making basis to the benefit of the residents of these two areas. It aims to develop and regenerate the local economic structures by encouraging the creation of jobs and enabling those jobs to be realistic and sustainable as well as restoring the ethos of self-belief and dignity amongst the inhabitants and enabling the community to take part in that process.
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international level

International Labour Organisation (2003) - Global Employment Trends - ILO Geneva [pdf]

The report presents labour market trends and underlines the main employment challenges at the global level and in each of eight regions of the world. Two years of economic slowdown have produced a deterioration in the global employment situation. With uncertain prospects for economic recovery, a reversal of employment trends is unlikely in 2003. The ILO estimates that the number of unemployed grew by 20 million since the beginning of 2001 to reach about 180 million at the end of 2002. The increase was most severe among women, who tend to be in sectors that are particularly vulnerable to economic shocks. In addition, an increasing number of young people entering the labour market were unable to find jobs, driving up youth unemployment rates, which had declined in the late 1990s.

websites

Habitat Agenda

Section IV C - Chapter 9: Improving urban economies

155. Urban economies are integral to the process of economic transformation and development. They are a prerequisite for the creation of a diversified economic base capable of generating employment opportunities. Many new jobs will need to be created in urban areas.
Complete Chapter [pdf]

ILO Constitution, Preamble:

"Whereas universal and lasting peace can be established only if it is based upon social justice;
And whereas conditions of labour exist involving such injustice hardship and privation to large numbers of people as to produce unrest so great that the peace and harmony of the world are imperilled; and an improvement of those conditions is urgently required. " (...)

ILO Constitution (1944) [pdf]

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DFID

Documents highlighting DFID's published work in support of labour markets and local enterprises in urban areas.

"Tomaszow Incubator Foundation" - Wakely, Patrick; Nicholas You (2001) – Implementing the Habitat Agenda: In Search of Urban Sustainability - DPU [pdf]

Poland - The Tomaszow Enterprise Incubator Foundation
(TEIF) was established in December 1993 to reduce
unemployment by improving co-operation and coordination between training organisations, employers and the unemployed. Initially, an Employment Forum was established to resolve the problem of unemployment
in the local area. This was an informal network of training organisations, public officials from 10 counties, employers and unemployed people, who met on a regular basis to establish common priorities.

"Worker Managed Enterprise in Kassala" Wakely, Patrick; Nicholas You (2001) – Implementing the Habitat Agenda: In Search of Urban Sustainability - DPU [pdf]

Sudan - This is one of the few successful examples of worker managed enterprises in Africa, which has improved the living standards of poor brick producers and their families in Eastern Sudan through the generation of secure employment and income.

 

 


2003 Development Planning Unit | Sikandar Hasan | Anna Soave | Khanh Tran-Thanh || Tina Simon