Wages plummet globally
The serious crisis caused by inflation together with the global slowdown in economic growth, caused in part by the war in Ukraine and the increase in energy costs, is generating a severe drop in real monthly wages in many countries, reported Wednesday the International Labor Organization.
According to a new report from the agency, this set of instabilities is reducing the purchasing power of the middle classes and hitting low-income households hard.
The report indicates that during the first half of 2022 monthly salaries decreased in real terms by 0.9%; the first time this century that it had negative global wage growth.
In the advanced economies of the G20, real wages decreased by 2.2% during the first half of this year, while in the emerging economies, wage growth slowed, but maintained a positive value of 0.8%.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, real wage growth slowed to minus 1.4% in 2021 and minus 1.7% during the first half of 2022.
The first “triple girl” of the 21st century will prolong droughts and floods
The World Meteorological Organization indicated today that La Niña is likely to last through the end of winter in the northern hemisphere and summer in the southern hemisphere.
According to the agency, the phenomenon will be repeated for the first time for three consecutive years in the 21st century and will continue to affect temperature and rainfall records, and aggravate droughts and floods in different parts of the world.
It is the third time that a triple La Niña event has occurred since 1950.
According to the Organization’s El Niño/La Niña update, the probabilities that La Niña will persist between December and February 2023 are 75% and 60% during January to March 2023.
The La Niña phenomenon is produced by a large-scale cooling of the ocean surface in the central and eastern part of the equatorial region of the Pacific Ocean, together with changes in the tropical atmospheric circulation, that is, winds, pressure and precipitation.
A digital tool will help companies hire migrant workers
The International Organization for Migration today launched a new Fair and Ethical Recruitment Due Checks kit to assist companies in recruiting migrant workers.
When migrant workers lack legal coverage or are unable to exercise their rights, migration is irregular, or when recruitment practices are unfair or unethical, migration can lead to situations of vulnerability.
The kit, created in collaboration with Apple, seeks to promote respect for the rights of migrant workers in global supply chains, strengthening verification processes in international recruitment through innovative solutions.
Deputy Director for Management and Organization Reform, Amy Pope, hopes that the use of this innovative tool will not be limited to the private sector, but will also be widely applied at the government level.
Colombia, Guatemala and Spain included in the new list of Intangible Cultural Heritage
Holy Week in Guatemala and the ancestral knowledge system of the Arhuaco, Kankuamo, Kogui and Wiwa indigenous peoples of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia were included this Wednesday in the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Unescowhose Committee is in session until December 4 in the Moroccan city of Rabat.
The 24 representatives chosen from among the 180 States Parties to the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage also selected the manual ringing of Spanish bells, the crafts and culture of the French baguette, and the Franco-Andorran Bear Festival in the Pyrenees, among other award winners.
They also considered including in the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage that requires urgent safeguarding measures the pottery from Quinchamalí and Santa Cruz, in Chile. This trade “is characterized by functional and decorative objects in black with white touches, created with techniques that date back centuries.”
