Mr President,

1. The Delegation of the Holy See congratulates the ILO for its steadfast service to social development through the collaborative action of workers, employers and governments. This 100th Conference is evidence of this fruitful approach in the pursuit of the common good.

These are critical and challenging times for developed countries as they are slowly emerging from a financial crisis of unprecedented depth whose consequences are evident across all sectors of societies. These impacts are especially obvious in the acute and prolonged levels of unemployment that men and women in many countries are suffering. Social and economic safety nets have been stretched to the breaking point and austerity programs entail severe cuts in the basic services that citizens, especially the elderly, children and the poor have come to rely on.

Old formulas for recovery and economic growth are proving less certain in a globally integrated economic environment and sovereign governments in most instances have not been able to find a formula for economic growth that restores jobs and includes new employment opportunities for the millions who are looking for work. Despite the fact that the majority of macroeconomic indicators seem to have recovered to pre-crisis levels, the labour market is still suffering: unemployment rates remain high and show no sign of recovery in the short term and the long term prognosis is uneven.

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Statement by H.E. Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi at the 100th Session of the International Labour Conference (151.69 KB)