[A picture containing text Description automatically generated] [Logo Description automatically generated]
The on-line international conference “Potential of Green Economy and Rural Tourism: A promise for sustainable regional development” was held on 9-10 November 2021. It was jointly organised by the Belgorod University of Cooperation, Economics and Law, Green Jobs and Sustainable Development International Centre (GJASD International) and the National Association of Rural and Ecotourism Organizations’ Development (Russian Federation). The conference was organised around the following topical areas:
The conference was distantly attended by 86 participants representing the ILO Enterprise Department; Belarusian Trade and Economics University of Consumer Cooperatives; Moldova Cooperative Trade University; Tajik State University of Commerce; Research Laboratory on Business Law, University Hassan 1st, Morocco; International Business Development, BRUNEL Business School, Great Britain; Wegener Centre for Climate and Global Change, Graz University, Environment Agency, Austria; Paris-Pantheon-Sorbonne University, France; UNESCO Chair of the Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russian Federation; University of Helsinki, Finland; Association “Tourism for Help”, Switzerland; Avid College, Maldives; Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland; University of Agribusiness and Rural Development, Bulgaria; College of Media and Mass Communication, American University in Dubai, United Arabs Emirates; as well as independent consultants and researchers.
The conference was opened by welcoming addressed made by Professor Vitaliy Ivanovich Teplov, Rector of Belgorod University of Cooperation, Economics and Law, Head of the UNESCO Chair on Education for Sustainable Development of Cooperatives; Mr. Andrey Anatolyevich Izvarin, First Deputy Head of the Governor’s Office, Belgorod Region; Mr. Oleg Kobiakov, Director of FAO Liaison Office with the Russian Federation; Mr. Vic Van Vuuren, Director of the ILO Enterprises Department; and Mr. Yves Chamorel, President of Green Jobs and Sustainable Development International Centre (GJASD International).
Dr. Amr Ezzat Salama, Secretary General of the Association of Arab Universities, made a special welcoming address and wished participants successful discussions and fruitful work.
In April 2020, GJASD International signed a service contract with the Expertise France (www.expertisefrance.fr/web/guest/accueil) for the provision of individual expertise as part of the international cooperation project “Statistics through Eastern Partnership” (STEP). In particular, individual expert consultancy was provided at the “Webinar to exchange experiences in conducting household sample surveys in labour statistics”. The webinar, organised from Paris via Zoom, was held from 16-19 June 2020 with the participation of 34 senior labour statisticians from the partnership countries.
STEP is an EU-funded regional cooperation programme in statistics with a budget of 4.7 million euros (eu-step.eu). The programme is managed by Eurostat and implemented by a consortium led by Expertise France. It is being implemented in the six Eastern Partnership countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and the Ukraine.
STEP aims at strengthening the statistical evidence base through more and better quality official statistics. The ultimate goal is to support evidence-based policymaking.
As specified in the STEP Work Programme, the webinar was held within the framework of Component C2: Increase the level of harmonisation of methodologies both between the countries and with the EU.
Activity C2.1 – Labour market statistics: Labour Force Survey and Labour Cost Index
Objective: Strengthen the quality of labour market statistics and their harmonisation with ILO standards; design and implement algorithms for the calculation of the Labour Cost Index aligned with international standards
Expected results: Improved application of sampling methodologies and survey tools in LFS and its questionnaires aligned to the recommendations of the 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS); harmonised statistical data on employment and unemployment.
In August 2021, GJASD International signed the fifth 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).
The contract contributed to the implementation of the training course called Communication for Statistics (C4S) that aimed at developing national training courses on communication for statistics. This was the last training course under Phase 3: "Cross-fertilisation among the pilot countries" that was successfully accomplished by the participants from Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine on 5 October 2021.
Premium Hortus is an e-commerce platform selling in agroecological and organic products and supporting African farmers and small businesses.
Participants shared experiences, stories and lessons on how to create a dynamic environment for start-ups to access technologies and investments. They also called for more attention to the potential of start-ups to tackle development challenges.
The five-invited start-ups received seed money from the Solar Impulse Foundation to support the following innovations:
The meeting was organised on 6 April by the ILO Project Team led by Ms Katherine Brimon (Senior Project Officer in charge of Output 3, ILO Country Office for the Philippines) and Mr Cezar Dragutan (Project CTA). The meeting was also attended by Mr Yves Chamorel (President of GJASD International - the implementing partner of Output 3), Lead Experts of GJASD International in TVET, labour statistics and LMIS, as well as two representatives of the Knowledge Community Inc. (KCI), a local company engaged for the project implementation in three regions of the Philippines. In addition, Ms Akiko Sakamoto (Senior Skills and Employability Specialist) and Mr Prat Tuca Jordi (Technical Officer, Enterprise Development and Skills), both from the ILO Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific (Bangkok), also attended the meeting. It total, there were 14 participants, including a Senior Officer working on a similar project in Malaysia.
Ms Brimon opened the meeting and after a short introduction gave the floor to Mr Dragutan who welcomed the participants and asked Mr Chamorel to present the Lead Experts of GJASD International.
Thereafter, Mr Dragutan made a brief Power-Point presentation on the project’s content and major outputs, followed by discussion of the project implementation plan, need for subject-specific methodological information to be collected by the KCI specialists and eventual challenges to be faced by the experts and local project teams in the process of project realisation.
At the end of the meeting, which lasted for about two hours, it was agreed that experts of GJASD International would send to Ms Brimon a request for specific information required to begin their work as well as a Background Paper on Demand for Skilled Workforce and Application to TVET Delivery Planning.
In his opening statement Mr. Khalid Hassan stressed that the National Workshop was convened at a time when the Philippines was transitioning to a post-pandemic environment that highlights the importance of well-informed labour market policies. In particular, the country’s National Employment Recovery Strategy (NERS) emphasises skills development as key to effective recovery both of jobs and businesses – a component which is likewise a priority under the Philippine Decent Work Country Programme 2020 to 2024.
There were nine key speakers whose presentations were followed by questions and answers sessions. The GJASD International’s experts made four comprehensive presentations covering such key issues as analysis of regional supply of skilled labour force and areas of alignment of the LMI in the Philippines to the needs of demand driven TVET.
Among other presentations were the following:
HiLyte is a rechargeable iron battery providing clean, affordable and on-demand energy for off-grid communities.
For two days, the Show offered workshops, meetings, forums and round tables, around 83 stands of exhibitors.
Representatives of GJASD International participated in the 1st International Climate Show (Geneva 2018), where they met Mr Bertrand Piccard. Mr Yves Chamorel, President, and Mr Igor Vokatch, General Secretary, represented GJASD International at the 2nd International Climate Show. They organised, moderated and made presentations at the Workshop “Eco-Tourism: My green trip - Experience in Armenia”, jointly with Ms Astrig Marandjian-Lapeyre, President and Founder of the Miassine Foundation (Armenia).
The International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) meets roughly every five years. Participants include experts from governments, mostly appointed from ministries responsible for labour and national statistical offices, as well as from employer’s and worker’s organizations.
The International Conference of Labour Statisticians is invited to make recommendations on selected topics of labour statistics in the form of resolutions and guidelines, which are then approved by the Governing Body of the ILO before becoming part of the set of international standards on labour statistics.
Mr Igor Chernyshev, Vice-President of GJASD International, participated in the 20th ICLS held in Geneva, Switzerland, on 10-19 October 2018 (www.ilo.org/global/statistics-and-databases/meetings-and-events). It was his seventh conference, where he participated this time as a Senior Adviser to the Head of the Ukrainian Delegation.
A conceptual overview
Monday - Friday: 10 am till 5:30 pm
Training Workshop in Region 8
The on-line Training Workshop in Region 8 was held on 22-23 July and attended by some 130 participants. It was opened by Mr Isidro S. Lapeña, TESDA Director-General; H.E Ambassador Daniel Pruce, British Ambassador to the Philippines; and Mr Cezar Dragutan, Chief Technical Adviser, ILO Skills for Prosperity Programme, Philippines, who welcomed the workshop participants on behalf of the ILO Country Office-Manila.
Thereafter, Dr Valdimir Gasskov informed the participants about the key workshop activities and made his first methodological presentation followed by the presentation on the measurement of qualifications and skills mismatched of persons in employment delivered by Dr Chernyshev. Next, Ms Rosalina S. Constantino, Executive Director of TESDA Planning Office, talked about the approach of national and regional TESDA system to demand-driven planning of TVET.
In total, there were 14 presentations.
On-Line Regional Training Workshops on Analysis of Market Demand for Skilled Workforce and on Demand-driven Planning of TVET: Republic of the Philippines
In line with then Project Implementation Plan, the Experts’ Team of GJASD International, together with the ILO Project Team located in Manila, conducted the above two-day on-line training workshops in the Visayas Regions 6, 7 and 8.
Workshops’ objectives
The Workshops aimed to:
Workshops’ knowledge content
Major features of the knowledge shared at the Workshops and planned to be used in the Regional Pilot Projects:
To support the Workshops’ training sessions, a comprehensive set of learning resources were prepared using the national and regional labour market information (LMI) and TVET data available in the Philippines. Findings of the labour market studies of the occupational structure of skilled labour conducted in Australia, selected EU countries and the OECD member States were also used for illustration of methods applied and results obtained.
The workshops participants were also informed about a method of data collection for an in-depth LMI analysis of the occupational structure of skilled labour to be piloted by the GJASD International’s team of experts in Regions 6, 7 and 8.
Workshops’ structure
The workshops were organised around the following major events:
Workshops’ participants
The workshops were attended by policy makers and administrators from the regional authorities, TVET institutional administrators and experts, labour statisticians and regional stakeholders, including representatives of employers’ and workers’ organizations. Taking into consideration the on-line format of the workshops, subject specialists from other Regions of the Philippines were also given the opportunity to attend the Workshops.
In particular, the top managers and senior officials from the following institutions and organisations participated in the Workshops:
Each on-line Regional Workshop lasted two full working day from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Manila time.
Training Workshop in Region 7
The on-line Training Workshop in Region 7 was held on 29-30 June and attended by some 120 participants. It was opened by Ms Rosanna Urdaneta, TESDA Deputy Director General; Mr Khalid Hassan, Director of the ILO Country Office-Manila; H.E Ambassador Daniel Pruce, British Ambassador to the Philippines.
Skills for Prosperity Project in the Philippines
On 25 March 2021, GJASD International and the ILO signed a two-year Implementation Agreement to cooperate in the implementation of the Skills for Prosperity Project in the Philippines (ILO SfP-PHI Project). The Project is funded by the UK Global Prosperity Fund and implemented by the ILO.
ILO SfP Philippines aims to enhance national capacity to increase inclusive, mutually beneficial economic development resulting from greater, more equitable employability and productivity by enabling policies and practices that ensure cost-effectiveness, access, and sustained quality of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). The Project has four areas of achievement:
Enhanced equity. The Project shall facilitate broadening of access to skills development and TVET systems for marginalized groups – prioritizing youth and women – by incorporating gender and social inclusion as a key element in all activities, and by providing technical advice for the adoption of necessary changes in national, regional and provincial policies, strategies, regulations and institutional arrangements. Additionally, it also develops and applies training approaches that specifically meet the needs of marginalized groups to open up the TVET system to more people in the country.
Improved quality of skills and TVET systems. It aims to assist in the process of developing upgraded competency standards and of their application to development of TVET programmes curricula, and competency assessment and certification to meet the increasing requirements of the economy for a higher skilled workforce. Additionally, it aims to enhance TVET competency assessment and certification through wider use of digital technologies.
Enhanced industry relevance of skills and TVET systems. The Project seeks to contribute to labour market information system strengthening, particularly in data collection and analysis of job market demand for skilled workforce. Moreover, it also promotes adoption of lifelong learning principles and recognition of workers who gained professional qualifications through various skills development mechanisms. It also promotes a learner-centred approach in TVET.
Improved cost-effectiveness of skills development and TVET systems financing. It will review the country’s practices on industry engagement and stakeholder participation in TVET financing, and assists in development and piloting a joint public-private financing mechanism, aiming for greater private sector participation in TVET financing. Ultimately, this initiative will bring about affordability and greater effectiveness of the TVET system.
Using an implementation approach that highlights gender and social inclusion, the Project focuses on three economic sectors recognized for its potential for employment creation particularly for marginalized groups. These are: agricultural sector with focus on food production; construction sector with focus on skills for green building practices; and, information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) sector with focus on skills for the digital economy.
The Project also has an area-based project focus with activities to test models at the community level to be implemented in Visayas where development challenges still linger despite the area having registered brisk economic growth comparable to other fast-growing regions in the Philippines.
Ultimately, the outputs of the Team of experts of GJASD International will be geared towards strengthening of TVET and labour market information system, data collection and analysis.
Mr Hugo Oberson, Team Leader for Central Asia and the Caucasus, and Mr Vokatch, General Secretary, of GJASD International participated in the event called “Meetings for the development of rural tourism in Aremnia” organised by the Miassine Foundation in partnership with GJASD International in Armenia from 20 to 25 October 2018.
The above event was held outside the formal agenda of the XVII Summit of La Francophonie (Yerevan, 11-12 October, 2018) under the auspices of the Swiss Embassy in Armenia. Mr Emmanuel Julien, Deputy Director of the ILO Enterprise Department, participated in the “Meetings for the development of rural tourism” on behalf of the ILO. Ms Astrig Marandjian-Lapeyre, President and Founder of the Miassine Foundation, took part on behalf of her organisation.
Mr Bertrand Favre, Deputy Mayor of the Commune of Grand-Saconnex (canton of Geneva), was part of the Swiss delegation.
On-Line National Workshop on LMI Requirements for Demand-driven Planning of TVET
On 10 November 2021, the Experts’ Team of GJASD International, in cooperation with the ILO Project Team located in Manila, conducted a day-long on-line National Workshop on LMI Requirements for Demand-driven Planning of TVET.
The participants will be briefly presented with the main results of the Regional Training Workshops held earlier this year in Regions 6, 7 and 8and concentrate their attention on the following issue:
The Workshop was attended by 92 participants from TESDA, CHED, PSA, ILO, DOLE, PESO, NEDA, DILG, regional agencies and social partner organizations as well as policy makers and government administrators.
The Agenda included the following events:
The Miassine Foundation and GJASD International, in partnership with the International Labour Office and the Swiss NGO "Tourism for Help", worked together and organised the 2nd Conference on Social and Solidarity Economy: Local Development and Rural Tourism in Armenia, which was held on 25 October 2018. The Conference that brought together 140 people began with the official opening ceremony with the participation of the Senior UNDP Officials, representatives of the Government of Armenia, including Vice-Minister Deputy Minister of Territorial Development, and Mr Stefano Lazzaretto, Swiss Ambassador to Armenia. GJASD International representatives participated in two panel discussions and Mr Vokatch made presentation on the co-operative issues related to rural tourism and green jobs.
The Conference was the first attempt to bring together all the protagonists of rural development together and to initiate dialogue among them.
Through the opportunity of meetings and trainings of 5 days, this event provided a unique platform for networking, capacity building and access to new market opportunities for Armenians through an exchange of good practices and experiences with Swiss economic actors. Particular emphasis was placed on raising awareness about environmental protection and the promotion of renewable energies, waste sorting and the use of local materials for construction.
Activities until 2021:
Next, Ms Katherine Brimon, Senior Project Officer, ILO Country Office-Manila, presented the Workshop’s agenda and Ms Marta Espano, ILO Country Office-Manila read the biodata of the Project experts of GJASD International.
Thereafter, Dr Vladmir Gasskov, Expert of GJASD International, made his first methodology presentation: “Overview of the international practice of occupational analysis”; followed by the presentation “ILO statistical guidelines for measurement of qualifications and skills mismatches of persons in employment” delivered by Dr Igor Chernyshev, Expert of GJASD International.
Training Workshop in Region 6
The on-line Training Workshop in Region 6 was held on 27-28 July and attended by over 80 participants. It was opened by Mr Isidro S. Lapeña, TESDA Director-General; H.E Ambassador Daniel Pruce, British Ambassador to the Philippines; and Mr Cezar Dragutan, Chief Technical Adviser, ILO Skills for Prosperity Programme, Philippines, who welcomed the Workshop participants on behalf of the ILO Country Office-Manila.
Likewise in the case of the Training Workshops organised for Regions 8 and 7, the first three presentations were made by Dr Valdimir Gasskov, Dr Igor Chernyshev and Ms Rosalina S. Constantino, Executive Director of TESDA Planning Office. Thereafter, 15 more presentations were delivered on the first and second workshop day, some of which are listed below.
“Approach of regional DOLE office to support demand-driven planning of education and training” by Ms. Maria Lucy U. Muralla, Regional Labour and Employment Officer, DOLE Region No. 6; “Analysis of Demand for Skilled Labour” by Dr Valdimir Gasskov.
The overview of the regional TVET delivery system and data on supply of graduates was presented by Ms. Esther B. Babalo, TESDA Provincial Director, Aklan Province; followed by three presentation providing insights into the capacity of regional TVET providers to react to the labour market signals unfolded by:
After the first edition last year in Geneva, the second edition of the International Climate Show was held at the Palais de Beaulieu Lausanne. The Show opened on Wednesday, 13 February, in the presence of Mr. Mike Horn, guest of honour and the adventurer of the extreme. Among his most famous adventures are a trip around the world by the equator, crossing Antarctica on foot (the longest part (5,500 km), has never been travelled alone and without resupply), descent of the Amazon in hydrospeed ... At the age of 51, the Swiss-South African explorer continues to combine the exploits.
"Each of us can make a difference for the planet," said Horn at a conference in front of more than 300 people.
GJASD International
c/o l'Etude d'avocats
CPB PARTNERS
Chemin des Carrés 37
1284 Chancy
Switzerland
Tel: +41(0)78-615-86-87
Email: info@gjasd.org
Mr I. Chernyshev is a member of the Working Group of Experts on Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism and its Sub-Group on tourism employment. He was invited to the 2nd Working Group Meeting (Madrid, 24-25 October 2018) and contributed to the meeting by writing one of the three a papers from the Sub-group entitled: “Measuring the sustainability of tourism: Issues in measuring the employment aspects of sustainable tourism” (see GJASD International at: statistics.unwto.org/event/wge_mst_2ndmeeting).
As a follow-up to the WG Meeting, Mr Chernyshev continued working with Mr. Manpreet Singh, Senior Statistician at ILO Department of Statistics, on the discussion paper “Key Findings and Recommendations” presented by Mr Singh at the 19th meeting of the Committee on Statistics held in Madrid (Spain) on 26-27 February 2019
(cf.cdn.unwto.org/sites/all/files/pdf/19th_statcom_item_5.2_doc.pdf).
On the occasion of the 22nd United Nations Commission on Science, Technology and Development (CSTD), a special session was co-organised with Mr Bertrand Piccard, President and Founder of the Solar Impulse Foundation, in Geneva on 14 May 2019.
Being a member of the World Alliance for Efficient Solutions by Solar Impulse Foundation, GJASD International took part in this special session. Mr Igor Chernyshev, Vice–President, and Mr Hugo Oberson, Team Leader for Central Asia and the Caucasus, represented the Association.
Ms Isabelle Duran, Deputy Secretary-General of UNCTAD, opened the even and gave the floor to Mr Bertrand Piccard who shared with the participants an emotional and straightforward message about the role of start-ups in addressing today’s most pressing development challenges (available at: www.facebook.com/UNCTAD/videos)
In December 2017, GJASD International was subcontracted by the Statinformconsulting Ltd. (Ukraine) to participate in the implementation of the project “Development of approaches and implementation of control mechanisms related to social support”. The Project was launched in September 2017.
GJASD International continues its collaboration with Expertise France and signed the fourth service contract in April 2021 for the provision of individual expertise as part of the international cooperation project “Statistics through Eastern Partnership” (STEP).
STEP is the first regional statistics programme in the Eastern Partnership countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine). The programme is financed by the European Union, managed by Eurostat and implemented by a consortium led by Expertise France. STEP started on 1 January 2019 and will last for a period of 34 months until October 2021. The overall objective is to make more and better statistics in order to improve decision making in both the public and private sector in the partner countries.
Among the issues addressed by STEP is communication and the improvement of the visibility of statistics. The partners have agreed to initiate a training course called Communication for Statistics (C4S) that aims at developing national training courses on communication for statistics. The course will start in June 2021 and will be delivered in two phases: (i) a regional phase focusing on the acquisition of basic knowledge on communication techniques, adult training and statistics; and (ii) a national phase, dedicated to the delivery of initial national training courses.
The labour statistics expert of GJASD International will support the implementation of the first regional phase by contributing to the training of national teams of trainers from each of the six partner countries in order to enable them to implement a training course in their home country. More specifically, the expert will participate in remote training sessions to support the learning processes on the statistical issues and to facilitate the webinars focusing on labour market and employment statistical questions.
More specifically, the expert will contribute to the training sessions to be held on W1, W3, W4 as well as weeks 6-8 (see Chart 1).
Chart 1. STEP C4S Training of Trainer E-Learning Work Programme
Spouts is the first ceramic water filter factory in Uganda, providing clean and safe drinking water for millions in need.
According to the contract signed, DAP should produce the following deliverables: Deliverable 1. Documented data on the annual supply of TVET and tertiary graduates in the region. Deliverable 2: Documented data on the number of active jobseekers registered with PESOs and private employment services, by “preferred occupation of employment”.
Ms Katherine Brimon (Senior Project Officer in charge of Output 3, ILO Country Office for the Philippines), Mr Cezar Dragutan (Project CTA) as well as the experts of GJASD International actively participated in the deliberations and responded to numerous questions asked by the meeting participants.
Green Jobs and Sustainable Development International Centre
On 1 November 2018, at the invitation of Professor Тetiana Melnyk, Head of the Chair of International Economics at the Kiev National University of Trade and Economics, Dr Igor Chernyshev, Vice-President of GJASD International, delivered the open lecture on the Sustainable Development as a Concept Encompassing Environment, Society and Economy for Master Programme students. The renowned Ukrainian scholar, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Science of Ukraine, Dr Volodymyr Sidenko, opened the lecture (www.knteu.kiev.ua/gallery/view).
GJASD International continued its collaboration with Expertise France and signed a new service contract in December 2020 for the provision of individual expertise as part of the international cooperation project “Statistics through Eastern Partnership” (STEP). In particular, individual expert consultancy will be provided during December 2020 – June 2021 for a technical assistance mission to the State Statistical Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan /SSC) on the “Methodology of the pilot Labour Force Survey (LFS)”.
Besides developing the new LFS tools, the expert will conduct training for the SSC staff on the calculation and analysis of the key LFS indicators.
Lastly, the STE will guide and support the development of a survey tabulation plan that would contain all required dummy tables to be used in the pilot LFS analytical report and the dissemination of survey results targeting different categories of users including policy makers.
In February – November 2019, the expert of GJASD International participated in the implementation of the Agreement No. 40246196/0 concluded between the International Labour Organization (ILO) and IRIAS: contribution to the ILO-executed G20TS Project.
The areas of technical services provided involved development of capacity of policy makers, staff of relevant ministries and technical agencies and the social partners in the countries-beneficiaries of the ILO Project - Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan. The ultimate objective of assistance provided was to develop capacity in countries beneficiaries for collecting and processing statistical data supporting the analysis of supply and demand for skilled TVET graduates.
Sabella is a turbine nestled on the seabed to capture energy from ocean currents and tides.
In May 2020, GJASD International signed a service contract with the Expertise France (www.expertisefrance.fr/web/guest/accueil) for the provision of individual expertise as part of the international cooperation project “Statistics through Eastern Partnership Statistics” (STEP). In particular, it provided individual expert consultancy at the webinar on Monitoring labour markets amid lockdowns to contain the COVID-19 virus: Essential labour force survey content and treatment of special groups. The webinar, organised from Paris via Zoom, was held on 28 May 2020 with the participation of 27 specialists from the partnership countries.
STEP is an EU-funded regional cooperation programme in statistics with a budget of 4.7 million euros (eu-step.eu). The programme is managed by Eurostat and implemented by a consortium led by Expertise France. It is being implemented in the six Eastern Partnership countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and the Ukraine.
STEP aims at strengthening the statistical evidence base through more and better quality official statistics. The ultimate goal is to support evidence-based policymaking.
The programme management team came up with the initiative to organise within a very short notice the above-mentioned special webinar for staff members working on labour market statistics from the six partner countries. GJASD International contracted an expert who prepared and delivered presentations at the webinar and provided guidance on the elaboration of national roadmaps to enhance technical capacity of national labour statisticians to continue collecting data for monitoring labour markets in the context of government lockdowns and the COVID-19 virus related restriction. This was the first webinar organised by the STEP programme.
At the Invitation from the Belgorod University of Cooperation, Economics and Law (Associate Member of GJASD International) Mr Igor Vokatch, General Secretary, and Dr Hagen Henrÿ, Assistant Professor at the Ruralia Institute of the University of Helsinki, visited Belgorod (Russian Federation) from 20 to 21 October 2019. Dr Henrÿ is a partner of the GJASD International in the area of sustainable cooperatives development. This was the third visit of GJASD International representatives to the university.
The objective of the visit was to discuss the future joint activities; review progress made on the preparation of a joint Text Book for University students; and deliver lectures on the latest developments in the area of cooperative statistics and green jobs, including the Guidelines concerning statistics of cooperatives endorsed by the 20th ICLS (10-19 October 2018). In addition, the Programme of the visit covered the following activities:
Lecture for students of the University of Belgorod on (i) ILO’s 100th Anniversary and (ii) Green economy, green jobs and green cooperatives.
Participation in the Round Table with students and professors.
Discussion with the university professors the proposal to include in the University Curriculum a short course of lectures on the Guidelines concerning statistics of cooperatives endorsed by the 20th ICLS.
The above proposal was accepted with thanks and Mr Chernyshev together with Mr Chamorel and Mr Vokatch would be working on the content of and training materials for a short course of lectures on the Guidelines concerning statistics of cooperatives.
Ecotech Ceram provides sustainable heat storage solutions for secure, clean and efficient energy.
The representatives of GJASD International made three presentations:
The day-long national event was opened by Mr. Isidro S. Lapeña, TESDA Director-General; Mr Khalid Hassan, Director of ILO Country Office Manila; and Mr. Alastair Totty, Deputy Head of Mission, British Embassy Manila; Mr Isidro Antonio Asper, Senior Vice-President for Political and External Affairs Federation of Free Workers (FFW), Labor Sector Representative, TESDA Board; and Mr Jose Roland Moya, Director-General, Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP)
In December 2020, a senior international expert of GJASD International started implementing the ADB STVET project, Output 3 of SEEP “ILO ISCO-08 introduced and used for the Labour Market information database”. Some of the tasks be accomplished are as follows:
1) Promote the implementation (methodological support and training) of ISCO-08 in Tajikistan;
2) Transfer the methodology and system for the inclusion of specific and nationally formulated occupations in the NCO of the Republic of Tajikistan.
3) Prepare the appropriate methodology and, tools using a variety of quantitative and qualitative approaches, to meet the objectives of the project’s output related to adaptation of ISCO-08.
The ISI World Statistics Congresses (ISI WSC) take place once every two years in different countries and are usually organized by or in partnership with the host country's National Office of Statistics. The WSCs and their associated events are the highpoint of activities of the ISI where all its Associations, Committees, members and participants involved in statistics worldwide come together to participate in the many different activities and highlights of the WSC for an entire week and associated activities immediately before or after this week.
On the initiative of GJASD International, the organisers of the 62nd ISI World Statistics Congress 2019 accepted a Special Topic Session (STS-429) entitled Green economy and green jobs: tourism sustainability and the issue of measurement. The 62nd ISI WSC was held from 18-23 August 2019 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (link to the video). It was attended by 2,500 delegates from over 140 countries and united statistical researchers, academia, industry practitioners, analysts and policymakers to share insights on development in statistical science and to advance application of statistics for discovery, innovation and decision-making. The moto of the ISI 2019 was “Come, Connect, Create”.
Prime Minister of Malaysia, Yab Tun Dr Mahathir Bin Mohamad, Prof. Helen MacGillivray, President of ISI, Minister of Economic Affairs, Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, Governor of the Bank Negara Malaysia, Datuk Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus, and Dr. Mohd Uzir Mahidin, Chief Statistician of Malaysia, were present at the Opening Ceremony. GJASD International was represented by Mr Igor Chernyshev, Vice-President.
In total, there were 14 presentations during the two working days delivered by Senior Officials from the TESDA Regional Office No. 7; DOLE Regional Office No. 7; PESO Regional Office No. 7; CHED Regional Office.
The capacity of building training was strengthened by four breakout discussion sessions held on the first and second day of the Training Workshop with four groups of participants each.
The activities in which GJASD International is involved include:
In total, there were 45 presentations. Ms. Monica Castillo, Senior Green Jobs Technical Specialist, ILO Enterprises Department, opened the first technical plenary session by her presentation “Towards a Just Transition in the Tourism Sector in Rural Areas: an ILO Perspective”, followed by a new understanding of the social and solidarity economy shared with the participants by Mr. Jürgen Schwettmann, Independent consultant for various multilateral and bilateral development cooperation agencies, Germany (a former Head of the ILO Cooperatives Unit).
Mr Igor Chernyshev was the Organiser and Chair of the above STS (more information on the session can be found on ISI2019’s website: www.isi2019.org). The session was held on 21 August and organised around the following four interrelated presentations:
The main objective of that STS was to show interrelationships existing among green economy, green jobs and the sustainability of tourism through putting the grassroots or local perspective as a high profile focus of sustainable tourism discussion. More specifically, the areas of common interest are (a) whether a host community is heavily affected due to the negative impact of tourism activity on its habitat including fauna and flora; and (b) how to involve a host community in tourism related activities as a means to bring them out of poverty and stimulate participation in preserving their habitat and the nature.
The special session debated the role of the private sector and, more specifically, the role of start-ups in addressing global development challenges. It also discussed how start-ups were contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals by designing innovative technological solutions to these challenges.
On the Invitation from the Belgorod University of Cooperation, Economics and Law (Associate Member of GJASD International) Mr Igor Vokatch, General Secretary, and Dr Hagen Henrÿ, Assistant Professor at the Ruralia Institute of the University of Helsinki, visited Belgorod (Russian Federation) from 11 to 13 October 2018. Dr Henrÿ is a partner of the GJASD International in the area of sustainable cooperatives development.
This was the second visit of the representatives of GJASD International Senior to the University. The visit had the following major objectives: (i) review the progress made on the preparation of a joint Text Book for University students; and (ii) deliver a series of lectures on the latest developments in the area of cooperative statistics and green jobs, including the “Guidelines concerning statistics of cooperatives” endorsed by the 20th ICLS (October 2018). In addition, the Programme of the visit covered the following activities:
In November 2016, GJASD International was subcontracted by the ICC Group (Slovakia) to participate in the implementation of a pilot project on driving low-income families out of poverty. The Project was launched in August 2016.
Virtual meeting with local partners in the Philippines
On 9 December 2021, the ILO Project Team located in Manila organised a virtual meeting with the consultative company “Development Agency of the Philippines” (DAP) – a local partner engaged by the SfP-PHI to address the Regional Labour Supply data collection and analysis, and the associated capacity-building aspects:
The virtual meeting aimed to officially introduce the DAP team to the local partners; specifically, the meeting aims to:
1. Discuss the project to the local partners; and
2. Level-off on the assistance needed from them.
The meeting was attended by senior officers of the Regional and Provincial TESDA, DOLE, CHED, PSA, and PESO from Regions 6, 7, and 8 (63 participants in total).
Mr. Atty. Engelbert C. Caronan, Jr., Mnsa, DAP President and CEO, made a welcoming statement. Thereafter, Ms. Dorothea C. Boy Navarro, Director, DAP Sustainable Human Development Program, discussed in detail the Project objectives; major activities and assistance needed from DAP.