Green Jobs and Sustainable Development International Centre
In February 2022, GJASD International signed the sixth service contract extending its collaboration with Expertise France for the provision of individual expertise as part of the international cooperation project “Statistics through Eastern Partnership” (STEP).
A series of on-line technical meetings were held with senior subject matter specialists of the State Statistics Service of Ukraine (SSS) on the “Methodology of the Labour Force Survey (LFS)”.
The ultimate objective of the individual expertise was to assist the SSS in the improvement of the LFS by incorporating the relevant recommendations of the 19th ICLS as well as the EU Regulation № 2019/1700 of the European Parliament and of the Council(eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN).
The contract was successfully implemented despite the extremely difficult and unsafe working conditions caused by the war in Ukraine.
Following the official opening session, Ms. Charlyn B. Justimbaste, OIC-Executive Director, Planning Office, TESDA made an overarching presentation, "Highlights of the Regional Pilot Completion Workshops and the Challenges of the Implementation of Area-based LMI Analysis and TVET Delivery in Regions".
Ms. Charlyn Justimbaste, OIC Director, made a comprehensive presentation highlighting the salient features of the three Regional Pilot Completion Workshops held before the Regional Workshop. Dorothea Boy-Navarro, Director of the Development Academy of the Philippines, spoke about the proposals for improving the quality of LMI on the supply of skilled labour from TESDA, CHED, and PESOs.
Experts of GJASD International made four comprehensive presentations, totalling about 4 hours:
Monday - Friday: 10 am till 5:30 pm
Mr. Igor Chernyshev, Vice-President of GJASD International, participated in the Show and discussed with Dr Nadia Plata a possibility of launching a project in the Pacific island countries with the objective to create green jobs for the indigenous peoples. GJASD International has participate in all Climate Shows organised since 2018 and friendly relations have been established with Dr. Plata and her Team.
This time, Dr. Plata introduced Mr. Chernyshev to Mr. Jeremy Sadler, INTRON Executive (Australia), who came all the way to Geneva to visit the Show with a great idea of organising one of its future meetings in Australia. Mr. Chernyshev used the opportunity and discussed with Mr. Sadler the initiative of GJASD International of launching a project on green jobs creation for the indigenous peoples of Australia and the Pacific Island countries through their involvement in green tourism. Mr. Sadler welcomed the initiative and offered his assistance in promoting such a project in Australia.
Mr. Chernyshev attended several conferences, of which one was of particular interest as it was directly linked with the potential of creating green jobs through collecting floating plastic waste in high concentration areas before it sinks or breaks down into microplastic. Such jobs can be created thanks to the Manta, a giant sailing boat, taking on oceanic plastic pollution. That concentrated ecology and technology floating factory ship is the first of its kind capable of collecting, processing, and recovering large quantities of marine plastic waste (explore the Manta in videos at: www.theseacleaners.org.
The Conference was organised and delivered by Mr. Yvan Bourgnon, Chairman and Founder of The SeaCleaners - the Swiss NGO that provides solutions on land and at sea to fight against plastic pollution.
Experts of GJASD International made four comprehensive presentations, totalling about 4 hours:
Methods and results of analysis of regional demand for a skilled workforce.
Methods and results of analysis of the supply of skilled labour from the LFS unemployed.
Supply-to-demand ratios as a basis for making TVET delivery recommendations.
Directions for enhancement of LFS occupational analysis in the Philippines for supporting the demand-driven TVET.
Ms. Rosanna A. Urdaneta, Deputy Director General, Policies and Planning, TESDA, concluded the Workshop discussions by sharing her vision on ways forward for TESDA.
Within the framework of the Implementation Agreement (March 2021-March 2023) with the ILO to cooperate in implementing the Skills for Prosperity Project in the Philippines, experts of GJASD International largely contributed to the preparation and made comprehensive presentations at the National Knowledge-Sharing Pilot Completion Workshop.
GJASD International participated online in the 22nd World Travel & Tourism Council Global Summit, which took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 28 November to 1 December 2022.
WTTC's annual Global Summit is the most influential Travel & Tourism event on the calendar. This year, industry leaders gathered with key government representatives to continue aligning efforts to support the sector's recovery and move beyond to a safer, more resilient, more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable future.
Thereafter, in his presentation “What brought us in Tajikistan”, Mr. Vincenzo Trani, President of Mikro Kapital, informed participants about the challenges encountered and results achieved by the fund despite the COVID 2019 pandemic lockdowns and economic depression.
After the official part, Mr. Chernyshev met H. E. Mr. Jamshed Khamidov, Ambassador of Tajikistan, whom he briefly informed about the objectives and areas of work of GJASD International. The ambassador invited Mr. Chernyshev to continue their discussion at the embassy to identify possible areas for the association’s activities in Tajikistan.
Later, Mr. Chernyshev met Mr. Vincenzo Trani, President of Mikro Kapital, who introduced him to Ms. Alina Zaharia form the “Generation” private company representing Mikro Kapital in Switzerland. It was agreed that GJASD International would organise a meeting with the “Generation” to discuss a fundraising procedure to finance certain association’s upcoming projects.
On 15 September 2022, Mr. Igor Chernyshev, Vice-President of GJASD International, took part in a Webinar “Ukrainian Business in Time of War – Day 204” held by the Ukraine Chapter of the Joint Chamber of Commerce of Switzerland to better understand economic conditions and reconstruction plans.
The event was opened by Ms. Dorit Probst-Sallis, Managing Director of the Joint Chamber of Commerce Switzerland-Eastern Europe, Central Asia, South Caucasus, who welcomed the participants and introduced two key speakers Mr. Hlib Vyshlinksy, Executive Director, Centre of Economic Strategy (Ukraine), and Dr. Andrii Dligach, CEO Adventure Group (Ukraine). Mr. Sven Henniger, Head, Ukraine Chapter, Webinar Moderator.
The Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (SF-MST) is an organising structure for integrating statistics on the economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustainable tourism. The complete SF-MST will be submitted to the UN Statistical Commission (UNSC) following an active process of research, discussion and consultation across multiple experts, sectors, and stakeholders. It can be used to derive specific indicators for this purpose at the global, national and sub-national levels. The SF-MST aims to become the third international standard on tourism after the International Recommendations for Tourism Statistics (IRTS 2008) and the Tourism Satellite Account: Recommended Methodological Framework (TSA RMF).
The 3rd Expert Group Meeting discussed the second draft SF-MST Report prepared by the Editorial Board chaired by Mr. Peter Laimer. The report consists of the following five chapters:
Chapter 1. Introducing MST, its aim and scope
Chapter 2. Economic sustainability
Chapter 3. Environmental Sustainability
Chapter 4. Social Sustainability
Chapter 5. The spatial perspective
Each chapter had its group discussion moderated by reèresentatives of the Meeting Secretariat (for more detailed information, see the Expert Group Meeting Programme).
Mr. Chernyshev, being an expert in measuring employment in the tourism industries and a co-author of the Sub-section on MST Employment included in the first version of the SF-MST Report, made comprehensive comments on Chapters 1-4, and at the last Group discussion where the following issues were raised: “Does the group agree with the process? Are there any important stakeholder groups to bring on board? Are there any important issues that should be included in SF-MST, or left for the future research Agenda? Do you have an interest in supporting work on specific topics?”
STEP is the first EU-funded large regional programme for statistical cooperation in the Eastern Partnership with a budget of 4.7 million euros, managed by Eurostat and implemented by a consortium led by Expertise France. STEP aimed to produce reliable and comparable statistics in the Eastern Partnership region and countries, for evidence-based decision-making.
Given that GJASD International signed seven service contracts with Expertise France and worked on their implementation during May 2020 - June 2022, the association was invited to the Final Event organised by STEP on 30 June 2022 to celebrate the Programme’s achievements with partner countries.
The event was attended by 90 participants from national statistical institutions of five Eastern Partnership Countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine), Eurostat, as well as members of the Consortium (Expertise France, INSEE, ISTAT, Central Statistical Office of Hungary, Statistics Lithuania and Statistics Denmark). Short-Term Experts (STEs) who were involved in providing of expertise during the course of the Programme also participated.
Mr. Igor Chernyshev, Vice-President of GJASD International, attended the event, which was opened by Ms. Avis Beneš, Head of Eurostat Unit B3, who warmly welcomed the Final Event participants. Thereafter, the floor was given to Mr. Klaus Balslev Pedersen, STEP Programme Team Leader, followed by Mr. Stepan Mnatsakanyan, President of ARMSTAT; Mr Nemat Khuduzade, Director of Department of Labour Statistics (AzSTAT); Mr. Gogita Torgadze, Executive Director of Geostat; Mr. Oleg Cara, Chair of the NBS of the Republic of Moldova, Mr. Ihor Verner, Chair, State Statistics Service of Ukraine.
The above high-level representatives from the five partner countries presented the achievement and benefits of STEP and emphasised the ways that STET had contributed to their statistics as well as cross-cutting issues.
Embassy of the Republic of Tajikistan in Swiss Confederation
The activities in which GJASD International is involved include:
The Workshop was held on 5 December 2022 in Manila (the Philippines) and attended by 161 participants. Mr. Danilo P. Cruz, Director-General of TESDA, made the opening statement. Mr. Khalid Hassan, Director of ILO Country Office Manila; Mr. Danilo P. Cruz, Director General, TESDA; and Mr. Lloyd Cameron, Economic and Climate Counsellor, British Embassy, warmly welcomed the participants (see it here).
Honorable Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, Committee Chairperson for Basic Education, Arts and Culture, and Energy, delivered a keynote speech.
In April 2022, GJASD International signed a new service contract further extending its collaboration with Expertise France for the provision of individual expertise as part of the international cooperation project “Statistics through Eastern Partnership” (STEP).
A series of on-line technical meetings were planned to be held with senior subject matter specialists of the National Bureau of Statistics of Moldova (NBS on the “Methodology of the Labour Force Survey (LFS)”.
The main objective of this assignment is to assist the NBS in the improvement of the LFS by incorporating the recommendations of the 19th ICLS covering the following forms of work:
Own-use production of goods
Volunteer work.
One of the primary means of advancing the implementation of the framework is through pilot projects in countries or destinations. These are key to testing the framework for MST on the ground.
As of August 2020, a total of 11 MST pilot studies have been conducted in the following countries: Austria, Canada, Fiji, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, and Thailand. In addition, Samoa and Vietnam have undertaken projects aimed at measuring the sustainability of tourism using tools that are in line with the SF-MST.
The role of the MST Pilots was to:
The pilot results were published in the “Experiences from pilot studies in measuring the sustainability of tourism: A synopsis for policymakers” (see it here)
Participants from ten countries presented the results of their pilot studies (see the Programme here)
On 12 October, Mr Yves Chamorel, President, and Mr Igor Cherynshev, Vice President of GJASD International met with Mr Vincent Subilia, Director General of the Geneva Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Services.
The CCIG was founded in 1865 as a private law association. The association is wholly independent of the State. Today, the Chamber has 2500 members from all sectors of enterprise, counting for over 133,000 jobs. In other words, it has become one of Canton's most essential business associations.
The CCIG focuses its activity on the four mainstays of Geneva's appeal to companies, the so-called framework conditions: town planning, energy, fiscal policy, and transportation.
During the meeting, the following issues were discussed:
The meeting was held in a businesslike and friendly atmosphere. In conclusion, it was decided that GJASD International would send an application for joining the CCIG.
Opening ceremony: Mr. Arnold Donald, Chair, WTTC & Vice Chair of the Board, Carnival Corporation; H.E. Ahmed Al Khateeb, Minister of Tourism, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Ms. Julia Simpson, President & Chief Executive Officer of the World Travel & Tourism Council, delivered the opening speech.
That was a high-profile event with the participation of former Heads of State from all over the five continents and the CEO of the leading world corporations engaged in the travel and tourism business (see the Programme here).
The 4th and last Meeting of the Expert Group on Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism is scheduled to take place in May 2023. The UNWTO Report on SF-MST will be presented to the UN Statistical Commission in February-March 2024.
Mr. Hugo Oberson, Team Leader for Central Asia and the Caucasus, tells that meeting that on 14 September 2022, he and Mr. Chernyshev participated in the conference organised by the Mikro Kapital Fund (Luxembourg) to promote investments from the Swiss financial and business community for development in Tajikistan. MIKRO FUND was created to support micro and small entrepreneurs' lending, financial and operational leasing, and other micro-financing activities worldwide.
The conference, held at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues (Geneva), was opened by H. E. Mr. Jamshed Khamidov, Ambassador of Tajikistan in Swiss Confederation, with an opening speech “Let me introduce you to my country, Tajikistan”.
In line with the Work Plan of the Implementation Agreement (March 2021-March 2023) with the ILO to cooperate in implementing the Skills for Prosperity Project in the Philippines, the experts GJASD International largely contributed to the preparation and made comprehensive presentations at three online Regional Workshops on Completing the Pilot Projects.
The Regional Workshops were conducted on 11 November (Region VI, attended by 71 participants.), 17 November (Region VII, attended by 153 participants), and 21 November (Region VIII, attended by 119 participants).
The pilot completion workshops aimed to:
Top managers and senior officials from the following institutions and organisations participated in the Workshops:
Mr. Danilo P. Cruz, Director-General of TESDA, made the opening statement at each Regional Workshop on Completing the Pilot Projects. Concordantly, Mr. Khalid Hassan, Director of ILO Country Office Manila, Mr. Khalid Hassan, Director of ILO Country Office Manila; Mr. Lloyd Cameron, Economic and Climate Counselor, British Embassy, welcomed the Workshop participants.
For each Regional Workshop, experts of GJASD International wrote a comprehensive report entitled Analysis of Demand for Skilled Labour in Western Visayas Region of the Philippines: Regions VI, VII, and VIII, respectively. The reports were used as background preparatory materials by the participants.
Senior Officials from the participating agencies representing their Regions made presentations on their activities and commented on the recommendations in the Pilot Project Report Analysis of Demand for Skilled Labour in Western Visayas Region of the Philippines.
Launched on 14 July 2022 at the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development, which this year is held around the theme of ‘building back better’ from the pandemic, the UN reports draw on UNWTO’s statistical work to track tourism’s role in delivering meaningful progress for people and the planet. Specifically, the UN SG Progress report on SDGs with its statistical annex will serve as an input to the deliberations of the HLFP.
Prepared in collaboration with the entire UN Statistical System, the reports and their latest available data show that action is needed to accelerate the delivery on the SDGs and to step up national measurement efforts, including for the tourism sector.
A United Nations global assessment of progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) makes clear the important role that tourism must play in achieving the ambitious agenda for change.
As demonstrated in section on SDG8 (“Decent Work and Economic Growth”), tourism a major force of development was one of the most affected economic sectors by the COVID-19 Pandemic as global GDP from tourism nearly halved between 2019 and 2020, with wide-reaching consequences for jobs, local businesses, and conservation efforts.
On SDG12 (“Responsible Production and Consumption”), UNWTO’s statistics serve to highlight the importance of national efforts to implement standardized tools like Tourism Satellite Accounts (TSAs) and the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA). Both underpin the UNWTO-led Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (MST) that assesses the social, economic and environmental impacts and dependencies of tourism—at national and sub-national levels.
GJASD International has been participating in the meetings of the Working Group of Experts on Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (WGE-MST) and its Sub-Group on Tourism Employment since its creation in 2018.
The UN Statistical Commission held earlier in 2022, has taken four decisions on MST and more than 20 countries worldwide plus the African and CARICOM regions have expressed their support to MST.
Mr. Peter LAIMER (Chair of the WGE-MST, Co-chair of the UNWTO Committee on Statistics and Deputy Director, Directorate Spatial Statistics, Statistics Austria) plans to convene a meeting of the Working Group of Experts in October 2022 to discuss a new version of the Statistical Framework as well as MST piloting and SDG indicators. Mr. Igor Chernyshev, Vice-President of GJASD International, is planning to participate in that meeting.
The International Climate Show: Solutions and Innovations was held at Palexpo Geneva (Switzerland) on 20 and 21 April 2022 was dedicated to Eco-innovations for climate and environmental protection (ClimateShow-2022).
Inauguration of the Climate Show 2022 was held on 20 April followed by the Press Conference with the Climate Show organizers led by Dr Nadia Plata (founder of the Climate Show), Mr. Fernand Cuche (General Secretary of the Union of Swiss Producers), PANGAEA X with Mr. Mike Horn (South African-born Swiss, professional explorer and adventurer) and Ms. Jessica Horn (a women’s rights/gender equality expert), Mr. Yvan Bourgnon adventurer, a competitor and a seasoned skipper committed to the ecology, "Gladiator of the seas”), the Catwalkers and the media.
During two days, visitors had the opportunity to participate in several workshops and conferences. They could discover the Pangaea X project led by Mike Horn, conferences of visionary personalities such as Mr. Yvan Bourgnon who shared the latest news about his project on a giant oceanic plastic pollution Manta boat designed to remove pollution from the oceans. A numerous workshops were organised for young people in the field of ecological science.
In addition, 13 innovative companies and start-ups demonstrated a large number of sustainable innovations.
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The MST programme goes beyond the development of the SF-MST. A Working Group of experts representing 24 countries from all global regions and from more than ten organizations representing the international statistical and tourism communities and academia, has been tasked with not only developing the framework but also advancing its implementation. This Working Group reports to the UNWTO Committee on Statistics. GJASD International is a member of the Working Group.
The 3rd Meeting of the Expert Group was held at the headquarters of UNWTO in Madrid on 15-16 December, back to back with the Symposium on country experiences (see the Programme here).
Mr. Igor Chernyshev, Vice-President of GJASD International, participated in the Symposium on country experiences held at the headquarters of UNWTO in Madrid on 14 December 2022.
UNWTO, in collaboration with the UN Statistics Division, is propelling the development of the MST (Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism) programme to provide all countries in the world with a common framework to measure the impacts and contributions of tourism on the economy, society, and the environment.
The Statistical Framework for MST (SF-MST) is a valuable guiding tool for countries to produce credible, comparable, and integrated data to guide decisions and policy concerning sustainable tourism better.
Mr. Vyshlinksy, presented current macroeconomic challenges and implications for business. Economic planning for the country’s renewal is underway by the Ukrainian Government and local business community in coordination with European and international partners.
Some hundred participants attended the meeting physically and remotely (online). Mr. Igor Chernyshev, Vice-President, represented GJASD International as a permanent Expert Group member.
Dr. Dligach presented the priorities and structure of the programme for the country’s renewal. One of his key messages is that the economic shock of the war in Ukraine is having differing negative effects on various sectors of the economy. At the same time the country continues to operate, the government provides its citizens’ essential services and the financial system has demonstrated resilience. The most revealing figures are presented in slides reproduced below.
Finally, Mr. Andriy Palka, Chair of Management Board, Imon International (Tajikistan), made the online presentation “SMEs and female entrepreneurship is the backbone of Tajikistan’s success”, where he briefly described how his company was helping female entrepreneurs to establish and develop their business through 103 banking service centres in more than 40 cities and districts of the Republic.