On 23 May 2007, the United Nations International Labour Organization awarded its first annual ILO Decent Work Research Prize to the former South African President Nelson Mandela and to Cuban exile Carmelo Mesa-Lago, an academic expert on Latin American economics.

Mr. Mandela, who is also a Nobel Peace Laureate, was "awarded an exceptional prize for his extraordinary life-time contribution to knowledge, understanding and advocacy on the central concerns of the ILO" , the organization said in a press release.  "With this prize, the jury and the ILO wished to recognize and honour his sustained efforts that helped to make decent work a central objective in the policy agenda in South Africa and worldwide, furthering the vision of work which is free from discrimination and oppression, and of social justice and dialogue as the essential base for progress."
 
Carmelo Mesa-Lago, Professor Emeritus on Economics and Latin American Studies of the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, USA, received the prize in recognition of his "major scholarly contributions to the analysis of socio-economic relationships and policy instruments for the advancement of decent work."  The ILO press release cited his work in particular on social security and pension reform which, the jury stated, had had a notable impact on reform processes across Latin America for many years.  Mesa-Lago is also well known for his critical and analytical studies on the Cuban economy.  Among his best known works is the 2000 study published by The Johns Hopkins University Press, titled Market, Socialist, and Mixed Economies.  Comparative Policy and Performance:  Chile, Cuba and Costa Rica.

In a social policy lecture to the ILO, Professor Mesa-Lago referred to "millions of workers and peasants in Latin America who suffer from lack of coverage or poor protection against social risks" and expressed the hope that social security "coverage is substantially expanded in the next decade through a combined effort from the ILO, the International Social Security Association (ISSA) and other international organizations, as well as all countries represented in this Conference" .

Created by the ILO's International Institute for Labour Studies (IILS), the Decent Work Research Prize which draws on the endowment from the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the ILO in 1969, rewards outstanding contributions to the advancement of policy relevant knowledge on the ILO's central goal of decent work for all.

[Adapted and condensed from the ILO Website ]

[LEA EN ESPAÑOL:
Primer Premio de la OIT a la investigación sobre trabajo decente: Lo reciben Nelson Mandela y Carmelo Mesa-Lago ]