GENEVA (ILO News) – The International Labour Organization is to mark the 30th anniversary of the ILO’s Declaration on Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy on 15-16 November with a high-level forum gathering corporate, labour and civil society leaders at ILO headquarters in Geneva.
“Multiforum 07” is expected to draw over 120 leaders from world of work to discuss the links between socially responsible business practices and productivity, enterprise growth and social progress. The forum will review a wide range of issues, including:
- strategies of the world’s most innovative companies for achieving better success through socially responsible behaviour;
- opportunities for workers and their organizations to contribute towards successful and responsible business practices; and,
- how the ILO can support such initiatives.
ILO Director-General Juan Somavia will open the forum on 15 November, followed by Mr. Robert M Godsell, former CEO, AngloGold Ashanti and Mr. Ibrahim Patel, Executive member, Congress of South African Trade Unions.
Panel discussions will take place on Friday,16 November, under the theme Effective Practices in implementing Labour principles, with keynote speakers including Mr. Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Nestlé; Mr. Danny Kalman, Director, Human Resources, Panasonic; Mr. Marcello Malentacchi, General Secretary, International Metalworkers’ Federation; Mr. David Arkless, Senior Vice-President, Manpower; Ms. Alke Boessiger, Head of Department, Union Network International Temporary Work Agencies Global Union; Mr. Oscar Maraver Sánchez-Valdepeñas, Director, Human Resources, Telefónica; Mr. Philip Jennings, General Secretary, Union Network International (UNI).
Mr. José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, Executive Director of the Employment sector of the ILO, Ms. Fausta Guarriello, Ms. Cecilia Brighi, and Ms. Renate Hornung-Draus, respectively Chairperson, Worker Member and Employer Vice-Chairperson of the ILO Subcommittee on Multinational Enterprises, will close the Forum.
Negotiated amongst representatives of workers, employers and governments, the ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy (the MNE Declaration) is the only international tripartite instrument on the desirable behaviour of enterprises with regard to labour and social policy in countries where they operate or have influence. The principles in the MNE Declaration are voluntary in nature and encourage social dialogue. They intend to inspire good practices and to guide multinationals, governments, and employers’ and workers’ organizations in adopting social policies.
The groundbreaking MNE Declaration was widely-regarded as being ahead of its time when it was adopted in 1977 in response to the growing role and influence of multinational enterprises in the 1960s and 1970s. It was last updated in 2006. The MNE Declaration offers a set of core principles and guidelines for enterprises in the areas of employment, training, working conditions, and industrial relations. In the increasingly globalized economy, the MNE Declaration has become even more relevant as public awareness grows with regard to social conditions of workers and multinationals became increasingly aware of the benefits of integrating internationally-accepted labour standards and principles into all levels of their operations.
For more information on the MultiForum, please contact the ILO Department of Communication at communication@ilo.org, +4122/799-7912
Or contact Yukiko Arai from Multinational Enterprises Programme of the ILO, at arai@ilo.org, +41 22 799-7179.
Or visit: http://www.ilomultiforum.org/
To order a copy of the Tripartite Declaration of Principles Concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy, Fourth edition, 2006, ISBN 978-92-2-119010-3, please visit: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/support/publ/xtextman.htm#b0103