El Salvador’s Victoria Marina Velásquez de Avilés elected chairperson of the ILO’s Governing Body

(From left to right) Luc Cortebeeck, Victoria Marina Velásquez de Avilés, Daniel Funes de Rioja.

GENEVA – The 318th Session of the Governing Body of the International Labour Office (ILO) has elected Victoria Marina Velásquez de Avilés, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of El Salvador to the United Nations Office at Geneva, as its Chairperson for 2013-14.

“We will build on the rich experiences of my predecessors and work towards strengthening the key ILO objectives, which we all know but it’s always useful to recall: employment, social protection, social dialogue, tripartism, and fundamental principles and rights at work. Our efforts will also focus on reviewing the organization’s institutional practices, its governance and research capacity,” said Velásquez de Avilés upon being elected.

“We will make our best effort and commitment to making social justice a reality in the world of work, using decent work as a means to achieve this,” she added.

Velásquez de Avilés replaces Gilles de Robien, former Minister, Ambassador with responsibility for promoting social cohesion and Government representative of France, who served as Governing Body Chairperson since June 2012.

Prior to her appointment as Ambassador in 2012, Velásquez de Avilés served as Minister of Labour and Social Welfare of El Salvador. She was Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Welfare from 1979 to 1980. Between 2003 and 2009, she was the First Judge of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of El Salvador, and worked in the Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court from 2000 to 2003, where she held the post of President from 2002 onwards.

A career magistrate, Velásquez de Avilés was the Prosecutor for the Protection of Human Rights in her country from 1995 to 1998, and Deputy Prosecutor of the Rights of the Child from 1992 to 1995.

Daniel Funes de Rioja, Executive Vice-President of the International Organization of Employers (IOE), was re-elected as Employer Vice-chairperson. Luc Cortebeeck, President of the Confederation of Christian Trade Unions in Belgium, was re-elected Workers’ Vice-chairperson. The two vice-chairs will also act as spokespersons of their respective groups. The three will serve as Officers of the Governing Body during the period 2013-14.

The Governing Body is the executive body of the International Labour Organization. It meets three times a year, in March, June and October, and takes decisions on ILO policy, the agenda of the International Labour Conference, and the draft Programme and Budget of the Organization for submission to the Conference.

It is composed of 56 titular members (28 Governments, 14 Employers and 14 Workers) and 66 deputy members (28 Governments, 19 Employers and 19 Workers). Ten of the titular government seats are permanently held by States of chief industrial importance (Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States). The other Government members, and the worker and employer members, are elected by the Conference every three years.