By Funmi Komolafe

The Director-General of the International Labour Organisation, ILO, Juan Somavia has commended the resolve of the G-20 leaders’ which met in Toronto, weekend, especially their commitment to give the “highest priority to safeguard, strengthen the recovery and ensure full return to growth with quality jobs.”

Mr. Somavia noted that to actualise their resolution, the leaders “agreed to a delicate policy balance between continuing the stimulus plans and a growth friendly fiscal consolidation process differentiated for and tailored to national circumstances.”

In the opinion of the ILO director-general, “the ultimate political, economic and social impact of the Toronto Summit will depend on whether this agreement is also implemented in a balanced manner at national and regional level.”

The ILO in a statement released in Geneva, Switzerland quoted its director-general as saying that “building confidence is not only about calming financial markets, it is also about citizen’s feeling confident that leaders are implementing policies in a fair way,” because “for working families there is no sustainable recovery without jobs recovery.

Mr. Somavia said, “social dialogue among business and labour, the actors of the real economy, will be crucial to sustain recovery and address fiscal issues as an important means of getting the right balance at this critical phase when the risks of a double dip recession are still worrying.”