{"id":299,"date":"2022-02-18T12:37:44","date_gmt":"2022-02-18T11:37:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.ifla.org\/faife\/?p=299"},"modified":"2022-02-20T06:21:54","modified_gmt":"2022-02-20T05:21:54","slug":"world-day-of-social-justice-libraries-for-decent-work-and-opportunities-for-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ifla.org\/faife\/2022\/02\/18\/world-day-of-social-justice-libraries-for-decent-work-and-opportunities-for-all\/","title":{"rendered":"World Day of Social Justice: Libraries for decent work and opportunities for all"},"content":{"rendered":"

The pandemic has had a profound impact on work and employment worldwide. A 2021 Call to Action<\/a> by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) outlines the vast scope of these impacts:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026 increased unemployment, underemployment and inactivity; losses in labour and business income, especially in the most impacted sectors; enterprise closures and bankruptcies, particularly for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises; supply chain disruptions; informality and insecurity of work and income; new challenges to health, safety and rights at work; and exacerbated poverty and economic and social inequality.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The 2022 World Day of Social Justice sees a strong call for continued efforts to address these challenges \u2013 focusing on the overarching theme \u201cAchieving Social Justice through Formal Employment\u201d.<\/p>\n

Why this theme?<\/strong><\/p>\n

As an introduction<\/a> to the 2022 Social Justice Day by the United Nations highlights, more than 60% of people employed around the world operate in the informal economy. Their position is often that of significantly more vulnerability, with workers likely to earn less and have less access to employment benefits or social protection.<\/p>\n

The ILO Director-General\u2019s message<\/a> points to the \u2018great divergence\u2019 and exacerbated socioeconomic inequalities, with those who were already more vulnerable before the pandemic experiencing the strongest adverse impacts \u2013 including women, young people, migrant workers, those in the informal sector, and small enterprises.<\/p>\n

This, of course, directly shapes and impacts the needs of the communities which libraries serve. Employment support is a task libraries have taken on in different ways<\/a> over the years \u2013 by providing access to information, training and connectivity, support for entrepreneurs and job-seekers, networking opportunities, and more. So how are users\u2019 employment needs and situations \u2013 and library responses \u2013 evolving today?<\/p>\n

Evolving trends and challenges <\/strong><\/p>\n

The 2022 World Employment and Social Outlook<\/a> ILO flagship report summarises<\/a> some of the key recent trends in the global labour market, including:<\/p>\n