GENEVA (ILO News) - The 89 th Session of the International Labour Conference opened today, electing as its President, Ms. Patricia A. Sto. Tomas, Secretary of Labour and Employment of the Philippines.
Addressing the assembled delegates following her election, Ms. Sto. Tomas warned of a "global black hole... if poverty, disease, ignorance and disunity remain unresolved and intractable."
Calling globalization the "mantra of the new millennium," she added "all that means is that we have to produce more, serve better and do both at the lowest possible cost."
"The historical imbalance in national, regional and international development may probably best be redressed by focussing on those who need it the most," she said. "Globalization, after all, should be a call for inclusion, not exclusion. Globalization, like golf, requires a handicapping system that allows the new players to catch up."
The Conference elected as Vice Presidents Mr. Arthur Joao Donato (Employers) from Brazil, Mr. Jean-Claude Parrot (Workers) from Canada and Ms. Cecilia Bannerman (Governments) from Ghana.
Mr. Donato is Vice President of the National Confederation of Industry in Brazil. Mr. Parrot executive Vice President of Canada's Trade Union Congress. Ms. Bannerman Bauer is Minister for Manpower Development and Employment of Ghana.
The annual Conference will meet until 21 June and is expected to draw some 3,000 delegates, including labour ministers and leaders of workers' and employers' organizations from most of the ILO's 175 member States.
The role of the International Labour Conference is to adopt and oversee compliance with international labour standards, establish the budget of the Organization and elect members of the Governing Body. Since 1919, the Conference has served as a major international forum for debate on social and labour questions of worldwide importance.
Among the major agenda items of this year's Conference are the elaboration and adoption of a possible new international standard on safety and health of workers in agriculture and examination and adoption of the programme and budget of the ILO for the 2002-2003 biennium. This session will also discuss the situation of forced labour in Myanmar (at a special sitting of the Committee on the Application of Standards), Director-General Juan Somavia's report on the condition of workers in the Occupied Arab Territories, and the annual report of the Director-General on "Reducing the Decent Work Deficit".
In his annual report to the Conference, the Director-General expresses "profound concern about a global decent work deficit of immense proportions, reflecting the diverse inequalities of our societies." He argues that "reducing the decent work deficit is the quality road to poverty reduction and to greater legitimacy of the global economy." He observes that decent work is a goal in its own right but there is also an economic dividend - "economic and social efficiency can go together".