ILO News: The Governing Body discussed progress on a number of major global employment and social challenges. What were the main decisions?
The March session offered the opportunity for Governing Body members to debate several key issues the ILO has been focusing on lately.

The executive body adopted a Programme of Work to give effect to the Resolution on Advancing Social Justice through Decent Work of 2016. The Programme is a comprehensive and action oriented document. Based on the guidance given by the GB, it outlines six key areas of the Office’s assistance to the constituents to attain the objectives of decent work through an integrated policy approach.

The GB came up with a strong consensus on the need to combat forced labour and a decision was made to ask the Director-General to continue raising extra-budgetary funds for the promotion and implementation of the Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930, and the Forced Labour (Supplementary Measures) Recommendation, 2014 (No. 203).

The Protocol has been ratified by 13 ILO member States so far, while the Forced Labour Convention itself has been ratified by 178 countries. In recent years, more than 30 countries have adopted laws, acts, decrees, ordinances or regulations on forced labour, modern slavery and/or human trafficking.

The Governing Body also discussed progress with respect to the Enterprises Initiative and ILO engagement with the private sector.

In the area of entrepreneurs and SMEs, delegates were informed that the ILO’s Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) programme has reached roughly 15 million participants over the last ten years and contributed to the creation of an estimated 9 million new jobs.

There was also a follow-up to the resolution concerning decent work in the global supply chains, a topic that had already been addressed during the last session. The Governing Body adopted a roadmap for the work of the ILO in this key technical area up to 2021.

Recognizing that the global challenge of ending poverty is fundamentally one of ending rural poverty and formalizing the economy, the Governing Body discussed measures to promote decent work in the rural economy and the formalization of the informal economy.

Members were also given an update on ILO action to support the implementation of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, with a focus on decent work and a just transition for all.

ILO News: Another major item on the agenda was the revision of the Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy. Can you tell us more?
The Governing Body approved the revised Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy, also known as the MNE Declaration, as well its revised introduction. It asked the Director General to disseminate the revised MNE Declaration to ILO constituents and to set up communication activities. It also asked the Office to organize and/or support appropriate tripartite event(s) for the 40th anniversary of the MNE Declaration starting in November 2017.

The revised MNE Declaration adds principles to the Declaration addressing decent work issues related to social security, forced labour, transition from the informal to the formal economy, access to remedy and compensation of victims, inter alia. It provides enhanced guidelines for fostering the contribution of multinational enterprises to achieve decent work for all.

ILO News: Governing Body members also discussed actions to be taken regarding the establishment of the High-Level Global Commission on the Future of Work? What was the outcome?
The Future of Work Initiative will be the centrepiece of the ILO’s centenary activities. The first stage of implementation is now almost complete.

As I speak, 165 member States had responded positively to the Director-General’s invitation to engage actively in the process and 93 have either held a national dialogue or participated in a subregional or regional dialogue, while several events are still to take place in the first half of 2017, including a Global Dialogue in Geneva in early April. The outcomes of all these dialogues are being synthesized for submission to the Global Commission to be set up in the coming months so that it can start its work in the summer.

ILO News: This 329th session included a high-level section on decent work for sustainable development. What was the discussion all about?
The Governing Body was invited to discuss how the ILO’s work on implementing « Transforming our world: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development » supports the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The aim of this high-level section was also to prepare the ILO’s contribution to the UN High-level Political Forum (HLPF) discussion coming up in July.

Discussions especially focussed on how the ILO’s Decent Work Agenda is contributing to implementing the 2030 Agenda, with particular regard to those Goals under review by the HLPF this year.

ILO News: What were the other main decisions taken by the Governing Body?
Governing Body members discussed the programme and budget proposals for 2018-2019. It is proposed on the basis of a zero real growth budget of US$797,390,000 in constant dollar terms. Because of expected cost decreases, this will result in a reduction in the nominal dollar budget of $4,058,526 or 0.5 per cent.

Governments, Employers and Workers also agreed on a workplan to continue improving and reinforcing the Organization’s supervisory system, that is the various constitutional mechanisms and procedures to ensure compliance in law and practice with International Labour Standards.

There was also a follow-up discussion to the resolution concerning remaining measures on the subject of Myanmar adopted by the Conference at its 102nd Session (2013).

Finally, the Governing Body looked at complaints for non-observance of ILO Conventions related to Chile, Guatemala, Qatar and Venezuela.

It also approved the report of the Committee on Freedom of Association that met during this 329th session.