GENEVA (ILO News) - Gender discrimination, forced labour in Myanmar and the follow-up to the International Labour Organization's (ILO) Declaration on fundamental principles and rights at work are among the major agenda items on the 277 th session of the Governing Body, which gets underway at ILO headquarters in Geneva tomorrow. The session runs from 16-31 st March under the chairmanship of the Governing Body President, Mr Jean-Jacques Elmiger of Switzerland.
East Timor
Jose Ramos-Horta, the East Timorese Nobel laureate and one of the territory's political leaders, will address the Committee on employment and social policy of the Governing Body at 3:30 p.m. on 21 st March. The address will be part of the committee's consideration of the ILO strategy and activities on employment and social concerns in East Timor and other crisis situations by the ILO InFocus programme on crisis response and reconstruction.
East Timor is facing massive unemployment estimated at over 80 per cent of the working age population. The ILO has fielded several missions to East Timor and developed programme proposals to address the employment situation including promoting emergency employment schemes, establishing employment registration centres and promoting employment-intensive infrastructure rebuilding and vocational training. Donor support is also urgently being sought for these programmes.
Declaration follow-up
The tripartite body will have before it the first-ever annual reports under the follow-up to the ILO Declaration on fundamental principles and rights at work . The Declaration was adopted in 1998 with the goal of promoting universal respect for the principles reflected in basic ILO Conventions on freedom of association, collective bargaining and on the elimination of forced labour, child labour and discrimination.
Under the terms of the follow-up, countries which have not yet ratified the ILO core Conventions are obliged to report on where they stand in relation to these principles and rights and to describe efforts made or envisaged to ensure the realization of these rights. The compilation of annual reports contains the full-text information from governments, accompanied in some cases by comments from employers' and workers' organizations.
An introduction prepared by a group of independent Expert-Advisers highlights some of the successes of this first undertaking, and suggests improvements for the future, including improvement in the report forms used and greater engagement in the reporting process.
For this first compilation, a little over one-half of the reports due were received. For those countries that failed to report, the Expert-Advisers remind that "Declaration reporting involves a constitutional obligation they owe as member States of the ILO." They welcomed the "frankness" with which some governments acknowledged areas that need improvement and appealed to the international community to support their efforts to move forward.
The introduction adds: "The Declaration follow-up presents an opportunity for a country to examine its own situation and to request assistance, and we were disappointed that many countries did not take up this aspect of the new system." In addition, "many employers' and workers' organizations either did not, or could not, venture any comments on what the governments had reported."
The Expert-Advisers also stress that "achieving universal respect for this package of fundamental human rights is a challenge that demands a response at all levels, from grass roots groups to international organizations."
They recommend that the Governing Body urge national, regional and international workers' and employers' organizations to participate more actively in the follow-up and to use the Declaration in the promotional spirit in which it is intended at the national and international level.
Gender discrimination in focus
In view of the upcoming UN special session concerning follow-up on the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995) the ILO Governing Body will hold a special symposium on Friday, 24 March on the topic Decent work for women.
The symposium is intended to demonstrate the Governing Body's strong support for preparations for Women 2000: Gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century, to be held in New York from 5-9 June this year.
The ILO symposium, which will be opened by the Director-General is expected to focus on the importance of promoting decent work for women as a matter of human rights, social justice and sustainable economic and social development.
In the aftermath of the Beijing Conference, the ILO launched a number of specific programmes and projects, including the International programme on more and better jobs for women and adopted a number of specific instruments of direct relevance to women and girls. These include:
- the
Home
Work Convention (No. 177) and
Recommendation
(No. 184) in 1996;
- the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work in 1998; and
- the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (No. 182) and Recommendation (No. 190) in 1999.
Gender issues have been integrated into other technical cooperation programmes, including the ILO's International programme on the elimination of child labour , which has carried out projects targeting girls in bonded labour, prostitution, domestic work and manufacturing and programmes to improve working conditions in the informal sector, establish social security systems and improve health and safety practices.
Within the ILO there has been an enhanced commitment to gender issues at the highest political level and the Director-General of ILO has given a high priority to "ensuring that the ILO is counted among the most progressive organizations in the field of gender equality." A policy of "mainstreaming" has been adopted to make sure that the concerns of women as well as of men are taken into account in designing projects and forming policy and conducting the day-to-day business of the Office.
No progress in Myanmar
The Governing Body will also discuss the second report of the Director-General to its members on measures taken by the Government of Myanmar following the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry established to examine its observance of the ILO's Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29).
The report concludes that the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry have not yet been complied with and that "forced or compulsory labour continues to be imposed in a widespread manner".
The 276 th Session of the Governing Body in November 1999 had already decided to consider at this session placing on the agenda of the 88 th Session of the International Labour Conference in June 2000 an item entitled: "Action recommended by the Governing Body under article 33 of the Constitution - Implementation of the recommendations contained in the report of the Commission of Inquiry on Forced Labour in Myanmar (Burma)". Article 33 of the ILO Constitution states that "in the event of any Member failing to carry out within the time specified the recommendations, if any, contained in the report of the Commission of Inquiry ... the Governing Body may recommend to the Conference such action as it may deem wise and expedient to secure compliance therewith." A paper submitted to the Governing Body outlines some of the actions it might recommend to the Conference.
The Governing Body will also debate proposals for the agenda of the 90 th session of the International Labour Conference in 2002. The ILO's Working party on the social dimension of the liberalization of international trade will be called upon to review its activities and will consider the best way to examine issues concerning labour and the global economy in the future.
The various Committees of the Governing Body will examine such issues as freedom of association, ILO programmes on occupational safety and health, employment and social protection in the informal sector and ILO strategy and activities on employment and social concerns in crisis situations. They will also prepare the Special Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations on the Implementation of the Outcome of the World Summit for Social Development (Copenhagen, 1995).
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).
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