A livelihood program from the International Labor Organization (ILO) awaits at least 100,000 jobless workers who survived the fury of super-typhoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) in Eastern Visayas.
ILO Disaster Response and Livelihoods Development Officer Simon Hills said yesterday the organization has set this goal for the initial beneficiaries of the program.
Hills also even as he appealed for more public support to fund the United Nation’s international aid to the Philippines.
At the moment, the UN has collected about 5 percent of the livelihood component of its $301 million aid for ILO’s livelihood program.
Hills said the program will significantly boost the recovery of affected provinces by targeting thousands of vulnerable workers, who lost their livelihood or employment.
More than half of the estimated 5.6 million workers, who have temporarily or permanently lost their livelihood, belong to the vulnerable sector or those without social protection and have little regular income.
“Ensuring jobs for 100,000 men and women that include minimum wages, sound occupational safety, skills development, and social protection can change the lives of 500,000 people within 12 months, and beyond,” Hills explained.
“One wage-earner can support a family of five. These five people will be able to pay for services in their local area; food, medicine, water, transportation. So, the money that goes to this family through this one job will then circulate with a multiplier effect across the local economy,” he added.
Hills said the project will also augment the government’s ongoing temporary emergency employment program, where at least 17,000 displaced workers have registered, to help clear roads and repair government infrastructures.
“Short-term employment alone is not enough. We also need to provide people with opportunities to develop skills that will enable them to have more stable and reliable sources of income and social protection, inclusive of health insurance,” Hills said.

Source: Manila Bulletin - December 3, 2013