Friday, February 9, 2007

PROMOTING FULL EMPLOYMENT AND DECENT WORK FOR ALL

VATICAN CITY, FEB 9, 2007 (VIS) - Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Holy See permanent observer to the United Nations in New York, delivered a talk before the 45th session of the Commission for Social Development of the U.N. Economic and Social Council, on "Item 3 (a): Priority Theme: promoting full employment and decent work for all."

  In his English-language address, Archbishop Migliore expressed the view that "it falls to the international community and governments to ensure both an enabling economic environment and the availability of work which is decent and properly remunerated."

  "The equality of women and men should be evident also in their treatment in the workplace, in salaries and in the acquisition of pensions. ... It is also important that men and women with families receive adequate and fair wages that are sufficient to meet ordinary family needs, especially in view of their responsibilities towards their children."

  The permanent observer stressed that "the extreme poor should ... be the particular concern of every government and every civilized society."

  On the subject of the elderly, Archbishop Migliore called for "greater flexibility in pension systems and job markets so as to encourage the aged to contribute what they can to society for as long as they are willing and able."

  Concluding his address by considering the question of migrants, the archbishop pointed out how "they are often motivated by the simple wish to work in order to support their families. They too deserve equal pay and equal protection under the law, not least because the jobs they do are often the ones that no one else wants. ... Too often a lack of normal family life leads to evils such as human trafficking and prostitution on the margins of migrant communities.
DELSS/WORK/UN:MIGLIORE                    VIS 20070209 (300)


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