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Upcoming events at the ILO

ILO World of Work Summit and World Day against Child Labour

Media advisory | 08 June 2015

World of Work Summit

GENEVA – This year’s International Labour Conference will hold a World of Work Summit on Thursday, 11 June to discuss the implications of climate change for workers, enterprises and communities.

A number of high-level guests, including the President of France, François Hollande, the President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, the President of Panama, Juan Carlos Varela, and the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Kailash Satyarthi, as well representatives of employers and workers, will address the Conference that day.

Members of a High-Level Panel on “Climate Change and the World of Work” will discuss how the world of work can help to build resilience and create solutions in pursuit of social justice, productive employment and sustainable enterprises, ensuring a just transition for all.

The Panel will take place in the Assembly Hall of the Palais des Nations in Geneva from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. You can follow the live discussion starting at 08:00 GMT on the website of the event.

Moderated by the BBC’s Linda Yueh, the Panel will include Mansour Sy, Labour Minister of Senegal, Luis Eduardo Garzón, Labour Minister of Colombia, Linda Kromjong, Secretary-General of the International Organization of Employers (IOE) and Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

Ahead of the crucial negotiations that aim to reach agreement to address global climate change later in 2015 in Paris, the panel will also look at which policies can best anticipate and address the challenges that the world of work will face with respect to climate change and the greening of economies.

In a call for solutions, attending governments and employer and worker representatives will be asked to share their world of work actions to tackle climate change.

At 12.15 p.m. before the end of the morning sitting, the Conference will be addressed by John Dramani Mahama, President of Ghana.

During the afternoon, the Conference is expected to be honoured by addresses from a number of Heads of State and eminent personalities who have been invited to address the Summit during special sittings:

  • at 3.10 p.m. by Kailash Satyarthi, 2014 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
  • at 3.55 p.m. by François Hollande, President of France
  • at 5.15 p.m. by Juan Carlos Varela Rodríguez, President of Panama

A designated area will be reserved for ILC and UNOG-accredited journalists. Radio and print journalists will be able to follow the day’s events from the 6th floor Lausanne gallery. There will be limited positions allocated for TV camera operators in the rear 5th floor gallery, facing the stage.

For more information, please contact: ILO Department of Communication at newsroom@ilo.org or +4122/799-7912.

World Day Against Child Labour

On Friday 12 June at 11.30 a.m., Kailash Satyarthi and Corinne Vargha, head of the ILO’s Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work Department, will chair a press conference at the Palais des Nations in press room III to launch the World Report on Child Labour 2015: Paving the way to decent work for young people. The new ILO report addresses the twin challenges of eliminating child labour and ensuring decent work for young people.

To mark the World Day theme No to child labour - Yes to Quality Education, Kailash Satyarthi will join a panel discussion with the First Lady of Panama, Señora Lorena Castillo de Varela, the Secretary of Labour and Social Welfare, Mexico, Mr. Alfonso Navarrete Prida, the General-Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation Ms. Sharan Burrow, and the Executive Director of the Federation of Kenyan Employers, Ms. Jacqueline Mugo.

The panel discussion will take place in room XX at the Palais des Nations from 1:00 to 2.45 p.m.

In the latter part of the event, M. Salissou Ada, Minister of Employment, Labour and Social Security, Niger, will join the launch of a campaign for ratification of the ILO Forced Labour Protocol adopted by the International Labour Conference in June 2014.