GENEVA (ILO News) - The 88 th Session of the International Labour Conference opened today and in its first act of business elected as its President, Mr. Mario Alberto Flamarique, Minister of Labour, Training and Human Resources of Argentina.
Addressing the assembled delegates following his election, Mr. Flamarique said "this first Conference of the new millennium compels us to produce results that are significant in strengthening social dialogue and equity in the work place."
He insisted that "social and democratic development in the world depends on the effective realization of the principles and rights at work of the core Conventions embodied in the ILO Declaration."
The ILO's Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work , adopted in 1998, is based on ILO standards dealing with freedom of association and the right to organize, forced labour, child labour and discrimination in the workplace.
The Conference also elected its Vice Presidents to represent Employers, Workers and Governments. They are Mr. Thomas P. Moorhead, (Employers) from the United States; Mr. Christian Appiah Agyei (Workers) from Ghana; and Mrs. Edit Bauer, (Governments) from Slovakia.
Mr. Moorhead is Vice President of Human Resources for Carter Wallace Inc. Mr. Agyei is Secretary General of Ghana's Trade Union Congress. Ms. Bauer is State Secretary for the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of Slovakia.
The Conference will be in session until 15 June. It meets annually 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 new international standard on maternity protection and a first discussion of a possible standard on safety and health in agriculture. There will also be a special event on HIV/AIDS and the world of work and a special agenda item on forced labour in Myanmar (Burma).