GENEVA (ILO News) - The Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) share a set of strong core values. This natural link between the two organizations was formalized at ILO headquarters in Geneva yesterday, when Juan Somavia, Director-General of the International Labour Office (ILO), and Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Secretary- General of the OIF - and former member (from 1971 to 1978) of the ILO's Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations - signed a framework agreement confirming their willingness to develop their institutional relations and joint activities for the benefit of the 50 or so member States common to both organizations.

"This agreement will contribute to achieving objectives that are common to both the OIF and the ILO, especially with regard to labour and the protection of human rights and workers," explained the Secretary-General of the OIF. The instrument stipulates that the two organizations will work together in promoting the social dimension of globalization, respect of fundamental principles and rights at work and the application of international labour standards. It also contains a provision on equal opportunities for men and women, and defense of cultural and linguistic diversity, paying particular attention to the international status of French.

"It is not just the French language that the OIF is defending," Juan Somavia pointed out. "This organization is defending first and foremost people's right to express themselves in their own language. The values defended by the OIF are in fact at the centre of the ILO's concerns, at the heart of the debate on the social dimension of globalization, for there can be no fair and equitable globalization without deep respect for everyone's cultural identity." Does this mean respect for cultural identity is a prerequisite for globalization?

"In my view this is self-evident," Boutros Boutros-Ghali emphasized. "If globalization continues at the same pace, in ten to fifteen years culture will be the last remaining stronghold in which States can preserve their uniqueness," he explained. "This cultural diversity is in the interest of the international community, because unless we democratize globalization, globalization will distort democracy, and this democratization process calls for defending and maintaining cultural diversity. In my view linguistic diversity is to globalization what the multiparty system is to democracy: indispensable," he declared vigorously.

This principle, one of the shared tenets of the ILO and the OIF, is the cornerstone of the agreement between the two organizations. In particular, the agreement provides for strengthening cooperation in the areas of vocational training, integration of young people at work and learning and training in information and communications technology.

"I hope we can avoid falling into pactomania", remarked Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who as a seasoned diplomat is well aware of this danger. "This agreement has to be followed by action", he continued. "It is in the field of training - whether of trade unionists or academics - that we can best strengthen cooperation between our two organizations. The need for training is especially pressing in the countries of the Third World, which account for half of our member States."

Since July 2001 the two organizations have engaged in very tangible cooperation in the context of a technical programme focusing on the exchange of French-speaking experts. This March, for example, a young Senegalese expert will join the International Training Centre of the ILO in Turin and in April a young expert from Togo will work in the ILO office in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

The signature of this new agreement strengthens this commitment on the part of the ILO and the OIF to economic and social development, human rights and cultural diversity. In this respect, Geneva as an international French-speaking city was a particularly appropriate venue for the signing of the agreement.

Press contacts:

• Anissa Barrak, Chief, Communications Service, OIF Fax: 331 / 44.37.32.73 E-mail: com@francophonie.org
• Julie Tilman, Press Officer of the Secretary-General of the OIF Telephone: 331 / 44.11.12.68. Fax: 331 / 44.11.12.81 E-mail: julie.tilman@francophonie.org
• François Charlier, Press Officer, ILO Telephone : 4122 / 799.85.06. Fax : 4122 / 799.85.77 E-mail : charlier@ilo.org