28.08.2010 - Oslo

Conference on the labour market and the economic crisis

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg will host a high-level conference on the international situation in the labour market, where millions of people are unemployed as a result of the global economic crisis, on 13th of September.

Photo : Norwegian Government| By bringing together a diverse group of speakers and participants, the conference will seek to define global solutions to the challenges of unemployment that are relevant to all regions.

The conference is a joint event by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and is held as the outlook for global employment continues to worsen, brought on by the financial crisis of 2008. According to ILO estimates, global unemployment in 2010 hovered at some 210 million people, or an increase of 34 million since the eve of the crisis in 2007. The conference titled “The Challenges of Growth, Employment and Social Cohesion”, the first of its kind, is sponsored by the Norwegian government and will be chaired by ILO Director-General Juan Somavia and IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

Other high-level participants in the conference will include President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, Prime Minister George Papandreou of Greece, Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero of Spain, Finance Minister Christine Lagarde of France, U.K. Secretary of State for Labour Iain Duncan Smith, and International Trade Union Confederation General Secretary Sharan Burrow.

The conference will bring together both politicians and experts to explore new ways of forging a sustainable, job-rich recovery from the global economic crisis. ”I very much look forward to welcoming world leaders and representatives of agencies and academic institutions to Oslo on 13 September to discuss the topical issue of unemployment," Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg of Norway said. "We need the right policies to ensure a sustainable, job-rich recovery. The Oslo conference offers an arena for key policy makers and experts to explore ways to improve the quality of life and work for the millions of people affected by the financial crisis.”

Government