The United Nations (UN) labour agency yesterday called on governments to prioritise productive investment, decent work and social protection in response to the global financial crisis, in order to avoid the "worst-case scenario" of around 200-million workers worldwide losing their jobs.

Director-general of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Juan Somavia, said with the release of the agency's annual Global Employment Trends (GET) report, that its Decent Work Agenda was a suitable policy with which to confront the crisis.

Somavia explained that the prioritisation of employment in economic planning was key to this agenda, and could be seen in current trends to promote job creation, deepen and expand social protection and increase social dialogue.

He called on the Group of 20 (G20) developed economies to resolve, at their upcoming meeting, on priority measures on employment and social protection for workers, and to include labour considerations in their planning.

The GET report said that global unemployment in 2009 could increase over 2007 numbers by a range of between 18-million and 30-million workers, and more than 50-million if the global economic situation continued to deteriorate.

In this last scenario, around 200-million workers, mostly in developing economies, could be pushed into extreme poverty, the report said.

Somavia emphasised that the ILO message was realistic and not alarmist. The world was facing a jobs crisis, and more decisive and coordinated international action was needed if a global social recession was to be avoided, Somavia said.