The International Labour Organisation (ILO) chief has called on the international community to take urgent and strong measures similar to those taken to save banks to create jobs for all economies amidst an unprecedented 212 million people made jobless in 2009.

ILO General Director Juan Somavia issued the call one day before the World Economic Forum is scheduled to open in Davos , Switzerland , on January 27, which will focus on this burning issue.

Somavia emphasised that unemployment solutions should be considered as a top political priority and be implemented through a common policy that combines public and private investment.

The ILO’s annual report on global employment trends predicted that the unemployment rate would continue to rise in the post-global economic meltdown period in 2010. The first year of the new decade is likely to witness an additional 2 million lost jobs in the developed and EU economies, it added.

Youths were the most vulnerable, accounting for one third of the global surge of 34 million in joblessness over 2007, representing an increase of 13.4 percent, the highest rate for youth unemployment since 1991.

An additional 45 million workers enter the world’s labour force each year, mandating that great efforts to be made to meet the demand for jobs by the market’s new comers, according to the ILO report.

The number of workers and their family members living below the poverty line of 1.25 USD/day in 2009 was 215 million higher than the 2008 figure of 633 million people.

The world labour body has therefore called on governments to take urgent measures to promote social welfare on a large scale to help the poor cope with the damage wrought by global economic activities./.