GENEVA (ILO News) - Forecasting "a new stage of creativity and modernization" for the International Labour Organization, Mr. Juan Somavia of Chile was today formally sworn in as the ninth Director-General in a special sitting of the Organization's Governing Body in Geneva.
Mr. Somavia is the first Chilean and the first representative of the Southern hemisphere to serve as Director-General. In a speech following his taking the oath of office, the new DG underscored the ILO's historic role in bringing social and political stability to industrialized countries since its founding in 1919, and declared "let us set ourselves the ambitious task of extending prosperity, rights and benefits to all working people in the world of the 21 st century."
"As the first Director-General of the ILO from the developing world, I recognize my special responsibility to ensure that the development dimension is integral to all ILO activities", said Mr. Somavia, adding that finding solutions to such problems as child labour, poverty, unemployment, gender discrimination and inadequate social protection will be central to his mandate. He said that the "central purpose of the ILO today is to promote opportunities of decent work for all people,"
Mr. Somavia said he felt "a profound spiritual bond with my predecessors," receiving their legacy "with a deep sense of responsibility." He spoke in the presence of former ILO Director-General Francis Blanchard and family members of the first five DGs (including Ms. Sylvie Junod, the granddaughter of Albert Thomas - the ILO's first DG; Ms. Mildred Morse, the wife of David Morse, the first post-WWII DG; Ms. Jane Jenks, the wife of Wilfred Jenks - who was the author, together with Edward Phelan, of the Declaration of Philadelphia) and Mr. Jean-Jacques Oechslin, who served as head of the International Organization of Employers from 1980 to 1998.
He expressed his appreciation for the work of the outgoing DG, Mr. Michel Hansenne, whose tenure extended from 1989 to 1999 and "who defended the social values of the ILO through a decade of scepticism and challenge."
Mr. Somavia said that "the end of the cold war ushered in a remarkable consensus based on open markets, a new spirit of competition and creativity and greater respect for human rights and democratic institutions." However he added that "this positive evolution also obscured the social ends of economic growth, and the importance of healthy social institutions for healthy markets."
He cited a number of challenges for the ILO, including economic liberalization, which has "altered relationships between the state, labour and business" and "changes in employment patterns and labour markets which have profoundly impacted on ILO's constituents."
He said that "social change has led to new and powerful actors of civil society, many of whom are organized outside the production process" and that "social attitudes have changed, leading to greater individualism and narrowing of consensus on collective social responsibility."
In spite of economic progress, Mr. Somavia warned of "inequality between and within countries with 1.3 billion people living in poverty and 1 billion unemployed or underemployed." He said that global security cannot be founded on the instability of so many individuals and families throughout the world and that "it is truly a tragedy that the century that presided over so much positive social change and unprecedented wealth creation, should end with such high levels of human uncertainty and deprivation."
He highlighted four strategic objectives: to promote and realize fundamental principles and rights at work; to create greater opportunities for men and women to secure decent employment and income; to enhance the coverage and effectiveness of social protection for all; and, to strengthen tripartism and social dialogue.
He expressed continued support for the ILO campaign to eliminate child labour and pledged to make gender issues among his top priorities: "Indeed, I believe gender concerns to be indistinguishable from development concerns."
On the subject of The Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, which was adopted by the International Labour Conference in 1998, Mr. Somavia announced his intention to promote the Declaration in the spirit in which it was adopted. He said that the Declaration was adopted as "a promotional instrument." In order for it to be effective and to enjoy the widest measure of support, "there can be no question of conditionality attached to the Declaration. Otherwise, it would risk the loss of its legitimacy in defining the minimum obligations incumbent on all ILO members."
The ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work reaffirms the commitment of the Organization's member States to "respect, to promote and to realize in good faith" the right of workers and employers to freedom of association and the effective right to collective bargaining, and to work toward the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour, the effective abolition of child labour and the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.
Mr. Somavia urged wide support for the goals of the Declaration, which "should become a common objective of the multilateral system as a whole, including the Bretton Woods institutions. The ILO should seek to cooperate with all organizations in a common endeavour to best implement it. To this end, I would hope that all organizations should play a role. As an absolute minimum, they should undertake not to pursue policies whose practical effect would be to actually ignore these rights in practice."
"Economic outcomes are influenced more by market forces than by legal norms, social institutions or state intervention", he emphasized. "The predominance of market-based development is making the enterprise a central architect of social change and the principal source of employment. It is essential for the ILO to engage vigorously and credibly with the business community to pursue our goals and promote our values."
"We must seek to harmonize economic growth with social progress, efficiency with equity, freedom with order and change with stability. We must be inspired by an approach that stresses dialogue and negotiations among autonomous and democratic social organizations representing the interest of all groups in the society", added Mr. Somavia.
Emphasizing that "while the ILO has always advocated universal values and goals, it cannot prescribe universal solutions," Mr. Somavia concluded his speech by saying "we live in a multicultural world with a rich diversity of traditions and institutions: we must be sensitive to the cultural and institutional diversity of our membership."
The following are comments made by various members of the Governing Body in reply to the question "What are the principal challenges facing the ILO in the years ahead?"
"The ILO has a very important role to play in the new
millennium to raise employment opportunities, in particular in
developing countries, to meet the challenges of globalization of
the economy and free trade. It should also promote and defend the
fundamental universal rights, and develop the capacities of trade
unions to play an effective role in a tripartite structure."
- Khurshid Ahmed (Pakistan) - General Secretary,
All Pakistan Federation of Trade Unions,
Worker deputy member of the Governing Body
"The biggest challenge before the ILO is its usefulness
to the community. The ILO should concentrate on sustainable
economic growth, particularly in the developing countries, and
build its capacity to deliver in the future."
- I.P. Anand (India) - Chairman, Shivathene
Centre,
Employer representative
"The Asia crisis and other factors creating instability
in the world of employment has reinforced the need to make the
Organization relevant to the 21st century. This will mean
developing new capacities to challenge the orthodoxies of
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, whose
orthodoxies are not now providing solutions to problems around
the world. We must bring to governments, workers and employers
organizations the message that the ILO has to be at the centre of
social policy-making at the international level and that
tripartism in solving problems is still the test of time for the
ILO.
"We need to change how we operate internally, and how
we communicate externally. Juan Somavia is the man to do both
those things."
- Bill Brett (United Kingdom) - Member, General
Council Trades Union Congress (TUC),
Vice-Chairman of the Governing Body of the ILO
"The ILO stands for the social dimension of
globalization. It is the social pillar along with the Bretton
Woods Organizations. ILO, along with the World Bank, the IMF and
the WTO need to find a common culture to work truly and
effectively together. The ILO has to generate a simple but not a
simplistic message. It must give itself an image and an identity
in terms of know how. Mr. Blanchard had to deal with the
divisions of the Cold War. Mr. Hansenne with restructuring the
office and Mr. Somavia will have to undertake deep reform."
- Jean-Louis Cartier (France) - Government
representative
"The most important thing is to have greater ILO presence
and visibility in Africa. We need technical cooperation
programmes designed specifically for our region. Child labour,
for example, cannot be apprehended in the same way in Africa as
in Asia."
- Marie-Louise Correa (Senegal) - Minister of
Labour and Employment
"ILO's values and standards must be taken into
account in the respective countries. Other organizations, like
the Bretton Woods Organizations, need to give their support to
this move. The ILO does not only have seven core standards, but
there are also standards on labour inspection, employment policy,
health and safety etc. There is a worldwide trend to neglect
these other standards.
The ILO must support a genuine tripartite dialogue
worldwide, aiming for universal ratification of Convention 144 on
Tripartite Consultation, a principle which is inherent in the ILO
constitution."
- Ulf Edström (Sweden) - Worker
representative
"The ILO must stand ready to face the fast-paced
challenges of globalization. Economies are changing, the way we
work is changing, and the world is becoming totally
interdependent. The challenge of the ILO is to propel the new
social issues in the international agenda, to become an equal
partner with the Bretton Woods institutions and to convey the
idea that consensus-building and social dialogue represent an
essential component in the development of modern and just
societies."
- Daniel Funes de Rioja (Argentina) - Employer
representative
"The major challenge for the ILO in the coming years is
to help societies to activate the twin agenda of job-creation and
economic growth in the framework of social justice. And to do
that the ILO counts with a precious tool: tripartism. There will
be no meaningful progress in economic and social agendas without
an effective social dialogue. If the ILO wants to remain a
credible organization, the new Director-General needs to further
the solution of the most pressing social and human rights issues:
child labour, workers' rights, gender equality in the
workplace... The Declaration on Fundamental Rights represents an
important instrument to boost these issues."
- Maria Helena Gomes Dos Santos (Brazil) -
Government representative
"The biggest challenge facing the ILO is to increase the
relevance of the Organization in light of all the changes
happening around the world. It's not enough to go on doing
things as we've done before. We have to review the whole
functioning of the Organization and its objectives in that
process.
Now, we have an excellent opportunity to review changes in
the Organization's structure, how the Governing Body
operates, and the approach to standard-setting. These are all
important. Otherwise, the Organization will lose its relevance
and that would be very unfortunate."
-
Brian Noakes (Australia) - Director-General,
Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry,
Employer representative
"Cooperation of the three social partners in building up
a strong organization to pursue the ILO objectives is a major
challenge. One of the most fundamental issues of the ILO is the
Declaration and its application."
- Zainal Rampak (Malaysia) - President of the
Malaysian Trades Union Congress
Secretary General/Vice-president Asean Trade Union
Council,
Worker representative
"The main challenge of the ILO at the dawn of the 21
st century is to reaffirm the principle of tripartism.
This is a unique organization, because it harbours in its very
structure the main protagonists of the fabric of any society:
governments, workers and employers. But the ILO needs to play a
more leading role in world affairs, it needs to go beyond its
constituency in order to place the challenges of the world of
work at the centre of the international agenda."
- Maria Rozas (Chile) - Worker
representative
"The major issue is putting into effect the Declaration
of workers' rights and seeing that the countries abide by it.
Also, globalization is on trial and unless we put in place a
strong instrument to address it, there will be no ground rules
and globalization will have failed."
- Gibson Sibanda (Zimbabwe) - President,
Zimbabwe Confederation of Trade Unions,
Worker representative
"Our major challenge is how to maintain tripartism.
Enhancement and strengthening of tripartism is the major
challenge for the ILO. ILO needs to have very precise and far
reaching keywords to convince people to adhere to the tripartite
system."
- Toshio Suzuki (Japan) - Senior Managing
Director, Nikkeiren International Cooperation Center,
Employer representative
"The ILO has to accompany the fundamental changes in the
world of work in an active and open manner. We need a framework
which allows enterprises to create proactively more employment.
Besides the goal of more employment and flexibility in the labour
market, the implementation of the Declaration is the priority
task."
- Ralf Thüsing (Germany) - Employer
Vice-President of the Governing Body