What is an amendment?

An amendment is any proposed change to the text of a draft decision contained in a Governing Body document, including to any text that is to be approved through the draft decision, such as a draft resolution.

Who can propose amendments?

Any Governing Body regular member or group can submit an amendment to any decision point. 

• Employers’ and Workers’ groups normally propose amendments through their respective Secretariats.
• The Government group and regional groups usually propose amendments through their coordinators.
• Other government groupings can propose amendments.

Any amendment submitted by a single member of the Governing Body must be seconded during the sitting in order to be considered.

How to present and where to send the amendments?

Proposed amendments to draft decisions must be submitted in English, French or Spanish by email to reloff@ilo.org.

For the sake of ensuring a clear and speedy process, members are requested to propose amendments marked in track changes in a Word document, indicating the agenda item to which they refer and the country or group on behalf of which the amendment is being submitted.

When to submit amendments?

Early submission of amendments allows the Office to translate and circulate them to the groups, allowing time to discuss them prior to their consideration by the Governing Body within the groups and, if deemed relevant, among the groups.

Governing Body members are encouraged to submit amendments at least 24 hours prior to the scheduled commencement of the sitting at which the item is to be discussed.

How and when are the amendments distributed?

Once translated, the Office of the Clerk of the Governing Body (RELOFF) communicates the proposed amendments in the three language versions by email to the Officers of the Governing Body, the Regional Coordinators and the Secretariats of the Employers’ and Workers’ groups. Proposed amendments are also shared through the ILO Events App with all participants. The distribution of amendments is done as soon their translations are ready, but preferably not during a sitting in order to avoid distracting members from the ongoing discussion.

How are the amendments displayed during discussions?

A dedicated software application usually allows to display the draft decisions and proposed amendments under consideration in three languages on the screen in the meeting room.

However, during the renovation of the GB room, the temporary building where sittings are held only allows for the text to be displayed in one language.

When are decisions adopted and published?

Once the amendments have been discussed and decided on, and consensus on the decision point is reached, the chairing officer declares the decision adopted. No amendments can be proposed afterwards.

All the decisions, including those that have been amended, are published on the Governing Body website by the end of the day of their adoption.