The 12th Social Dialogue Forum kicked off on Monday in Riyadh, organized by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development in partnership with King Abdulaziz National Dialogue Center, with the participation of The International Labour Organization (ILO) as well as representatives of the three production parties (the government, the employers, the employees). The forum discussed labor market opportunities and challenges through 3 main topics, including training and rehabilitation programs and their impact on developing the national cadres' skills. This is in addition to business models and their role in enhancing the work environment, and wage protection and contract documentation. These 3 topics facilitated 6 initiatives in accordance with specific mechanisms to coordinate the national efforts to ensure their effective execution. The ILO representative Yusuf Ghallab stated that Saudi Arabia's efforts are a response to the rapid changes facing the labor world. "Today, we are facing major transformations that are deeper than ever on all levels and in all fields: technological, demographical and environmental, which are destabilizing the concept of labor worldwide. "These transformations created new labor patterns and models that require new skills, and high flexibility and innovation necessary to cope with all the different types of work arrangements," Ghallab said. He also emphasized the importance of having a people-centered approach to achieving a fair and comprehensive sustainable development, with focus on the role and importance of social dialogue, including collective bargaining and trilateral cooperation for policy-making, successful decision-making, achieving social democratic justice and peace. This is in line with the ILO announcement regarding social justice for a fair globalization, where it emphasized the importance of strengthening social dialogue and the tripartite structure as they are considered the most effective means to achieving consensus on labor market policies, and ensuring transforming economic development into social progress, and social progress into economic development. The forum featured many topics including training and rehabilitation programs and their impact on developing skills, in addition to business models and their role in enhancing the work environment (raising productivity — attracting national cadres), and wage protection and contract documentation for domestic workers. — SG
