ILO Governing Body concludes 277 th Session

GENEVA (ILO News) - The Governing Body of the ILO concluded its 277 ^th session today after adopting conclusions on a wide range of subjects.

These include a decision to broaden the Organization's examination of the social dimension of globalization, a decision to expand efforts to end forced labour in Myanmar and the first review of the follow-up to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work , which was adopted in 1998. The 277 ^th Session of the Governing Body, which ended today, was chaired by Mr Jean-Jacques Elmiger (Switzerland).

A special Symposium on Decent Work for Women highlighted the challenge of eliminating gender-based discrimination in the workplace and paved the way for the ILO's participation in the upcoming United Nations' conference Women 2000: Gender equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty-first Century.

The Governing Body voiced unanimous support for a reinforcement of ILO technical cooperation in favour of workers in the occupied Arab territories. It also endorsed the report of an ILO multi-disciplinary mission to the West Bank and Gaza, which outlined 19 projects with a goal of strengthening the job and income-generating capacity of small and micro-enterprises.

The ILO's Committee on Freedom of Association reached interim conclusions on complaints involving Australia, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Canada, Cuba, the Republic of Korea and Zimbabwe.

Working Party on Globalization

The broadening of the working-party mandate also resulted in a change of name: the new group's deliberations will proceed under the title: Working Party on the Social Dimensions of Globalization. The Working Party, which is composed of all members of the ILO Governing Body, also pledged to increase contacts and cooperation with other multilateral agencies.

The Governing Body endorsed proposals for the Office to beef up its research capacity on these issues particularly via its newly established International Policy Group.

Launch of annual reporting review
under the ILO Declaration

This Governing Body session marked the first-ever examination of annual reports submitted by Governments that have not yet ratified all the ILO fundamental rights Conventions.

Meeting as a committee of the whole to permit countries that are not Governing Body members to speak about their own situation, speakers reaffirmed their commitment to the Declaration and its follow-up. Many stressed the importance of encouraging more replies from governments and the constructive role that employers' and workers' organizations can play in relation to reporting. In summing up this discussion, the Chairperson of the Governing Body pointed out the clear need for technical assistance and technical cooperation to assist governments to meet their obligations under the Declaration and in creating conditions for the ratification and implementation of the fundamental rights Conventions.

Myanmar

In an action unprecedented in the ILO's 80-year history, the Organization's Governing Body set in motion a discussion in its June 2000 Conference, which could result in an appeal to its other 174 member States to review their relationship with the Government of Myanmar (Burma) and to take appropriate measures to ensure that Myanmar "cannot take advantage of such relations to perpetuate or extend the system of forced or compulsory labour" practised against the country's citizens.

Invoking for the first time article 33 of the ILO Constitution, the Organization's Governing Body recommended that the International Labour Conference, meeting in Geneva in June this year, "take such action as it may deem wise and expedient to secure compliance" by Myanmar with the recommendations of a 1998 Commission of Inquiry.

Article 33 is designed for use only in the event of a country failing to carry out the recommendations of an ILO Commission of Inquiry, which is itself a procedure reserved for grave and persistent violations of international labour standards.

The 1998 Commission concluded that "the obligation to suppress the use of forced or compulsory labour is violated in Myanmar in national law as well as in actual practice in a widespread and systematic manner, with total disregard for the human dignity, safety, health and basic needs of the people."

An updated report by the ILO Director-General Juan Somavia examined new evidence of the situation and concluded that an order issued by the Government of Myanmar on 14 May 1999 does not exclude the imposition of forced labour in violation of the Convention, and "in actual practice, forced or compulsory labour continues to be imposed in a widespread manner."

The Governing Body, composed of 28 government members ^* , 14 employer members and 14 worker members, convenes three times annually. It is the executive arm of the ILO and takes decisions on the implementation of ILO policies and programmes. Ten of the government seats are permanently held by States of chief industrial importance. The remaining members are elected for three years by governments, workers and employers respectively, taking account of regional distribution.

* Algeria, Brazil*, Burkina Faso, Canada, Chad, China*, Croatia, Ethiopia, France*, Germany*, Ghana, Guatemala, India*, Islamic Republic of Iran, Italy*, Japan*, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Namibia, Peru, Russian Federation*, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom*, United States*, Venezuela.
(* = members holding non-elective seats as States of chief industrial importance).