On 2 April 2009, world leaders from the G20 countries will meet in London to find solutions to the global crisis.

In the meantime, millions of people in developing and developed countries are already paying a high price for the crisis: global unemployment is expected to increase by at least 50 million and the global economic crisis stands to lead to cuts in the wages of millions of workers worldwide with a rise in the number of working poor living on less than USD2 per day (ILO).  

The crisis must provide the trigger for a wholesale reform of the global economic order.  As such it could be a turning point for the goal of achieving sustainable development and social justice. The central objectives of a new economic architecture should be shared prosperity with decent jobs and income for all. Indeed, the period prior to the financial crisis was characterised by a certain amount of GDP growth, but that failed to generate decent jobs and to extend benefits to working people and the poor. A new global economic order must promote fair distribution of wealth created and resources generated in the economy, based upon the centrality of decent work as a mechanism for employment generation, social protection, social dialogue and rights at work.  

To move in this direction, we believe the following steps are necessary...