GENEVA - The World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization will hold its second meeting at the International Labour Organization (ILO) on 20-21 May.
Brazil's First Lady, Ruth C.L. Cardoso, will be present for one day of the Commission's meeting - on 21 May. This meeting will also be the first attended by Commission members Giuliano Amato, the former Premier of Italy, and the leading Japanese businessman Taizo Nishimuro, President and Chief Executive officer of the Toshiba Corporation.
The media is advised that there will be a photo-op at the opening session at 9:00 a.m. Monday, when the Co-Chair President Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania will speak. The Commission will go into closed Plenary session at 9:15 a.m. but at 10:30 a.m. journalists are welcome to speak with Commissioners during a 30 minute coffee break.
The ILO launched the World Commission in February with the aim of building a consensus on a model of globalization that reduces poverty and insecurity, and increases opportunities for all. The panel was convened under a decision by the ILO's Governing Body in November 2001. The Commission will prepare an authoritative report which will include an in-depth analysis of the social dimension of globalization and the implications of this analysis on decent work, poverty reduction and development. A major objective of the Commission is to respond to the need for an integrated policy framework which advances both economic and social goals in the global economy.
The Commission members reflect a wide range of views and policy perspectives on globalization, as well as the experiences of various regions of the world. Additionally, the Chairman and two Vice-Chairs of the ILO's Governing Body, as well as the International Labour Office (ILO) Director-General, serve as ex officio members. All members of the Commission are participating in their personal capacity.
The Commission is co-chaired by President Tarja Halonen of Finland and President Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania. The other commission members are: Valentina Matvienko, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia; Eveline Herfkens, Minister for Development Co-operation of the Netherlands; Taizo Nishimuro, President and CEO of the Toshiba Corporation; Giuliano Amato, former Italian Premier; Joseph Stiglitz, winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize for Economics; Julio Maria Sanguinetti, former President of Uruguay; Ruth C.L. Cardoso, first Lady of Brazil and President of that country's Community Solidarity Council; Ann McLaughlin Korologos, Vice-Chair of the Rand Corporation and former US Secretary of Labour; Surin Pitsuwan, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand; Deepak Nayyar, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Delhi and former Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India; Hernando de Soto, author and President of the Institute for Liberty and Democracy in Peru; John Sweeney, President of the AFL-CIO; François Perigot, President of the International Organization of Employers, France; Heba Handousa of Egypt, Managing Director of the Economic Research Forum for the Arab countries, Iran and Turkey; Lu Mai, Secretary-General of the China Development Research Centre; Victoria Tauli-Corpuz of the Philippines, Chair-Rapporteur of the Board of Trustees of the UN Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations; Aminata D. Traore of Mali, author and Coordinator of the African Social Forum; Ernst Ulrich von Weizaecker, scientist and German parliamentarian and Zwelinzima Vavi, General Secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions.