ILO BMUN LXVII

Topic B: Labor Rights Hey ILOers. For this post I took a brief look at the World Bank's report on Informal Enterprises in Kenya. Interestingly, 95% of businesses in Kenya are informal, with around 50% manufacturing sector. Average age of business owners was 35 and 40% of the owners were female. We find a few interesting notes from the figures in the paper. - First off, access to capital was the primary hinderance to starting a business across all companies interviewed and the primary supply for capital in informal firms came from the owner's personal funds. - Second, labor productivity is consistently higher in formal micro-firms than informal firms, however, this gap arose after 2007 and is attributed to the change in environment in formal firms. -Education level of the manager correlated with higher productivity, with marginal benefits from secondary education and around a 20% increase when owners had vocational or university education. -There was no correlation seen

In 2019, we live in a world, where not automatically heading to a two-year or four year university is seen as out of the norm.  In the US, there is a strong push for an increase in skilled-labor, leaving many “blue-collar” jobs, many times associated with low skill input,becoming more and more vacant.  The article lists agribusiness, traditional manufacturing, and construction as professions with an increasing demand, yet less and less viable applicants. Because so many of these “blue-collar” jobs are essential parts of maintaining the interdependence of the US economy, many of these industries are turning to automation and other forms of technology to deal with the lack of workers.  However, these businesses do not necessarily have the funds to support and develop the technologies needed to maintain their profits. Companies are also considering relocating due to the lack of “unskilled workers” in a particular area, potentially giving a devastating blow to the local economies.  

Hi everyone, I just wanted to take a moment to clarify a number of things about committee that delegates often ask about before committee begins. However, if anything that I say doesn't explain enough and you want to know more, feel free to comment on this post or message me at ilolxvii@bmun.org. Tech Policy The technology policy for ILO this year will be tech unmod. This means that you should feel free to use your devices during unmoderated caucuses to help you with resolution writing and collaboration as well as double-checking information online. However, if the chairs feel that technology isn't being used productively or is being counter-productive, we reserve the right to outlaw it completely in committee. We don't want to do this because we understand what a useful resource they are for resolution writing, so please don't be distracted by them while in unmod or have them out at any other time. If you are in need of accommodations regarding laptops or mobi

Hi all, I'm sure you all understand how important the issues in our committee are. But in case that isn't already clear, I found a really interesting article about the situation in Nepal. Until recently, the country had a system called the "Kamaiya system", where informal employment often turned into bonded labor that could be carried over between generations. This created an oppressive situation for many economically disadvantaged people, and constituted a system of modern slavery. However, after recent international backlash the country actually abolished the system in 2002, to mixed results. The measures taken by the government don't go deep enough to address the inequality that really created this system and most of the people it affected still aren't self-sufficient. But recently the ILO partnered with UCEP Nepal to create the Bridge Project aimed at training formerly bonded workers with the skills to find new employment and become self sufficient.