The 9th Latin American Conference of Ministers of Labour, Employment and Social Security was developed on May 2nd and 3rd in Cartagena, Colombia. The event was led by the Colombian Minister of Labour, Luis Eduardo Garzón and ILO’s General Director, Guy Ryder.

The key issues discussed were: young people in the future of work, training for employment, and youth employment; policies to enhance youth social inclusion in the rural sector; entrepreneurship; globalization, technology and new forms of labour; advances and challenges of mobility and social protection for young people in the region.

Ryder pointed out the need to move on to a new phase in which concrete measures and action plans are implemente to face the challenges of youth employment.

The attendants worked to move forward in certain goals, such as designing policies to create strategies that generate youth employment, as well as defining mechanisms to support ministries in developing policies to grant rural work opportunities and strengthen economic activities.

Finally, there were analysis about the evolution of labour legislation in a new context that includes globalization and different labour market realities. The development of policies that enhance basic labour rights and the promotion of social dialogue to achieve decent work and economic progress.

Source: El Universal