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The resolution further provides for a number of definite undertakings relating to dependent territories in respect of which the United Nations have accepted or may accept a measure of international accountability. Those undertakings involve the application to such territories of the principle that all policies shall be primarily directed, to the well-being and the development of the populations concerned, and the obligation on the part of each Government to make a periodic report to the 1.L.0. indicating the extent to which effect has been given to the provisions of the Social Policy (Dependent Territories) Recommendation, 1944. Finally, the resolution recommends that the United Nations accept an obligation to request the 1.L.0. to appoint a representative on any committee which may be entrusted with the task of watching over the application of the principle of accountability, and to em-sure that any facilities which may be afforded in the form of inspection and otherwise shall include appropriate measures for examining the application of 1.L.0. conventions and recommendations. Clause IV of Article VI of the resolution expresses the belief that the peace settlement Will afford an exceptional opportunity to secure a concerted advance in the acceptance of binding obligations concerning conditions of labour. To this end it is recommended that throughout the peace settlement the United Nations should, wherever appropriate, include provisions for labour standards and that the Governing Body should appoint a consultative committee for this purpose. COMMITTEE ON ITEM 111 OF THE AGENDA (THE ORGANIZATION OF EMPLOYMENT) The recommendation adopted on the subject of employment organization in the transition period was regarded by many as perhaps the major accomplishment of the Conference, and certainly by all as a problem equalled in importance only by those dealt with under items I and II of the Agenda. In addition to affirming certain guiding principles which should govern employment policy, the Conference also endorsed a series of detailed proposals in the form of recommendations to Governments indicating appropriate methods whereby these principles might be applied, having regard to national conditions. In presenting its conclusions the Committee called attention in its report to the following two general considerations which it deemed of great importance and to which it hoped that proper emphasis would be given in action taken by the Conference. First and foremost, it expressed the conviction "that policies to assure full employment constitute an indispensable condition for the successful solution of the problems with which this Conference is faced. Access to employment in the production of useful goods or services is essential for the preservation of human dignity as well as for the proper support of physical existence. Organizational arrangements and, above all, a strong employment service to bring together available workers and available jobs in an orderly manner, with which the deliberations of the Committee have been concerned, are broad in scope and of great potential significance for the post-war era. Nevertheless, they leave unanswered the question of how assurance is to be given that sufficient jobs will be available. This assurance must depend upon the willingness of nations to adopt whatever measures may be necessary and appropriate to promote employment opportunity for as many men and women as may seek employment." In the second place, it felt obliged to point out that the application of the organization of employment " presents problems that are different and far more difficult for liberated areas than, for other countries ", and that consequently, while witli the principles themselves all nations can agree, the attainment of full employment and an adequate standard of living must await the reconstruction of all the means of production. The Committee expressed itself as confident, however, " that the more fortunate nations will lend assistance in this task of reconstruction in liberated areas, so that all nations may go forward together." The first general principle enunciated relates to the collection of information regarding persons seeking or likely to be seeking work and regarding prospective employment opportunities. It is suggested that this should bo done by a series of factual studies covering such information as the number, education and occupational background and wishes, past and present skills, location, industrial and sex distribution of various categories of job-seekers, the extent and timing of the demand for workers from each major industry, and the probable area-by-area balance of labour supply and demand in the transition period. Secondly, the recommendation urges the planning of national programmes for demobilizing and re-employing those at present in the Armed Forces and assimilated Services with a view to affording such individuals the maximum opportunities for re-establishment in civil life, together with the simultaneous planning of industrial demobilization and reconversion in co-operation with employers and workers' organizations and in a manner calculated to facilitate the rapid attainment of full employment for the production of useful goods and service. It is suggested that in the process of demobilization, which should be as rapid as military necessity and transportation facilities permit, consideration should be given to the desirability of arranging, where necessary, for an early release of those whose qualifications make them indispensible for urgent reconstruction work. Stress is laid also on the need for making provision, wherever justified by prospective opportunities to make a living, for adequate financial and other assistance to enable qualified persons to settle on the land, to enter or re-enter a profession, or to take up other independent work. Two specific recommendations with reference to industrial reconversion deserve comment. With a view to ensuring that in the disposition of surplus plant, equipment, and materials human needs receive first consideration, it is recommended that such property should not be destroyed or held out of use so long as these needs are unsatisfied or so long as no excess production would exist at reasonable prices under conditions of demand associated with full employment. A further specific recommendation refers to the desirability of procurement agencies giving contractors both at home and abroad as long advance notice as possible of cut-backs in war production, and to the need for employers also arranging to give not less than two weeks' notice to the employment service in the event of proposed dismissals affecting more than a specified number of workers. Thirdly, it is urged that during the transition period and thereafter the widest possible use of employment-service facilities by employers and workers should be encouraged. In this connection it is suggested that consideration be given to the advisability of requiring employers in specified industries or areas to engage their workers through the employment service.
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