Building Responsive, Inclusive and Collective Solutions

Joint Statement of the BRICS Member States on Labour and Employment
on the sidelines of the 105th International Labour Conference
June 9, 2016 (Thursday), Geneva

1.      We the BRICS countries, represented by Labour and Employment Ministers and Heads of Delegation of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, met on 9th June 2016 on the margins of the 105th session of the International Labour Conference in Geneva, Switzerland. 

2.      We reconfirm our conviction that labour and employment policies are critical to foster strong, sustainable and inclusive growth, thus reiterate our commitment to achieve decent work and employment for all as envisaged in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
3.      We recall the deliberations in the first BRICS Labour and Employment Ministers' and Social Partner's Meeting under Russian Presidency in Ufa, Russia in January 2016 and firmly believe that strengthening intra-BRICS dialogue and the exchange of experience and information on labour & employment issues is an important step forward in our long-term cooperation for the benefit of our peoples and the international community.  

4.      We concur that innovation and job creation, skills development, and social protection constitute the three pillars of inclusive, quality and job rich economic growth. We agree to work on these through an integrated and comprehensive and inclusive policy approach, sharing experiences and developing stakeholders cooperation.

5.      We remain concerned by the existing levels of informality in the labour market  and the lack of Decent Work therein.  Informality affects segments of workforce, such as women, youth and other vulnerable and marginalised - groups more than others. We reiterate our commitment to strengthen our policy response to the transition from informality to formality taking into account our national contexts and capability.

6.      Meeting new requirements imposed on our labour markets by technological revolution, development of digital economy and innovations, and mitigating their possible negative employment related impacts, facilitating labour skills development and labour mobility are serious challenges for achieving inclusive growth and sustainable development. We reaffirm our commitment to encourage domestic industry and entrepreneurship including Small and Medium Enterprises, to invest in quality job creation and social protection of workers and promote labour mobility.

7.  We recognize the important role of social dialogue and intend to strengthen the cooperation with social partners, in order to achieve stronger labour market outcomes.

8.      We welcome the focus of the World of Work Summit at the 105th International Labour Conference on ‘Decent Jobs for Youth’ and recognize the need for concerted efforts to impart youth with adequate skills required and necessary for productive jobs.

9.     We believe that informed policy discourse is critical to economic growth and acknowledge the contribution by ILO in enriching our discussions in BRICS.

10.    We welcome and support the theme of the G20 Labour and Employment Ministerial Meeting to be held in July 2016 under Chinese Presidency and commit ourselves to strengthen our coordination on issues like promoting Entrepreneurship and Social Security, which are of common interest to us.

11.    BRICS countries represent the changing face of labour market. We reiterate our commitment to work more closely in the area of labour and employment and realign our policy tools to the emerging economic & labour market needs.

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