A Woman’s Work: Gender and the World of Work

March 8, 2012, 10:30am – 12:00pm

In connection with International Women’s Day, please join the Just Jobs Network and the Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry for a conversation on women in the work force.

The event will focus on how closing the gender gap in labor market participation and in political and corporate leadership will improve work-life balance and support diverse and productive economies around the world. The discussion will explore the challenges and opportunities women face in entering, thriving and moving up in the world of work.

Tri-Lateral Dialogue: The Arab Spring and the Future of Progressive Politics

December 1, 2011 – December 2, 2011

The Foundation for European Progressive Studies with the support of Fondazione Italianieuropei and the Center for American Progress organized a trilateral dialogue on the future of progressive politics after the Arab Spring, bringing together a select group of politicians, policy makers and thinkers from the United States, Europe and North Africa.

The conference was held in Rome, Italy.

The objective of the dialogue was twofold. First, the forum provided an opportunity for progressives from across the regions to share experiences and build relationships for the future. Second, and perhaps more importantly, the dialogue evaluated how the Arab Spring has provided an opportunity for a new shared economic and security agenda for progressives across the regions.

Global Progress: Progressive Futures

October 18, 2011 – October 19, 2011

The third Global Progress conference was convened in Madrid, Spain. Hosted almost a year after the last meeting in New York City, the gathering brought together some 200 progressives from across five continents, including members of the New Leadership Network, the Global Progress Council, and the world’s leading progressive campaign strategists and policy analysts.

Focused on a new agenda for Shared Prosperity and the Future of Progressive Politics, this intergenerational discussion was informed by policy memos that presented ideas on how to:

• Create greater employment opportunity for the young;
• Invest in new technologies and re-vitalize industrial policy;
• Transform the welfare state into an opportunity society; and
• Reform the global economic architecture.

As we head into an important electoral cycle, the conference provided progressives with the opportunity to share new ideas and best practices in policy and campaigning, the “what and how” of progressive politics, and together begin to chart a path to victory.

First Annual Just Jobs Network Meeting in Cairo, Egypt: Jobs for Growth and Stability

May 27, 2011

The Just Jobs Network held its first annual meeting in Cairo, Egypt in May, 2011. Jobless growth has proven to be unstable, unequal, and unsustainable. The meeting discussed key challenges and mechanisms for good job creation worldwide as a necessary basis for broad-based, sustainable economic growth and stability.

From the worst economic recession since the Great Depression to the high levels of unemployment that are fueling the revolutionary uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, the current years will stand out as a distinctly transformative period in the history of the world. The challenge confronting stakeholders is to ensure that the worldwide transformation is a positive one that promotes shared progress and prosperity.

The unrest in the Middle East and North Africa highlights both the importance and the urgency of creating enough just jobs in the short and long run. Just jobs — complete with labor rights including the right to organize and collective bargaining, appropriate remuneration, social protections such as health care and pensions, and opportunities for economic mobility — are key for broad-based growth and stability.

Policy experts; government leaders; representatives from local, regional, and international unions; nongovernmental organizations; and think tanks came together to discuss challenges and solutions for just job creation in Egypt and lessons that can be extrapolated for developing countries worldwide.