GENEVA (ILO News) - International efforts to improve the lot of millions of child labourers while providing decent work for men and women worldwide took centre stage at the opening of the 87 th International Labour Conference in Geneva today. The Conference, attended by tripartite delegations representing governments, employers and workers from the ILO's 174 member States, is expected to adopt an historic international Convention and Recommendation on eliminating the worst forms of child labour.
"In a world where it is so difficult to come up with a cause that can unite hearts and minds, let's make the eradication of the worst forms of child labour a cause we all share", said the ILO Director-General, Mr. Juan Somavia.
In remarks that drew applause from delegates, he said "the elimination of the worst forms of child labour should become a global cause. No family in the world wants to see its children in these situations. Children everywhere are saying to their parents " Please save me" from the abhorrent practices targeted by this Convention. We should not abandon these families."
The Conference's first order of business was to elect its President, who is the Honorable Alhaji Mohammad Mumuni, Minister of Labour of the Republic of Ghana, who will preside over the session which meets until 17 June.
The Vice Presidents of the Conference are Mr. Ali Khalil (of Syria) for the Government Group, Mr. Tom Diju Owour (of Kenya) representing the Employers Group, and Mrs. Patricia O'Donovan (of Ireland) representing the Workers Group.
In remarks accepting the presidency, Mr. Mumuni said that this final session of the International Labour Conference in the 20 th century "has the responsibility of bringing to fruition the hopes of the international community for a breakthrough in the major areas of concern, such as child labour, maternity protection and the role of the ILO in technical cooperation."
He called on the Conference delegates to strive for consensus on efforts to adopt a Convention and Recommendation to eliminate the worst forms of child labour: "Our goal is to formulate measures to protect the rights of the child, and thereby, assist in the preparation of posterity for the challenges of the future."
He called on the ILO to "maintain its leadership and a tenacious grip of its authority over labour standards and issues, and to pursue with increased vigour its primary objective of promoting social justice."
To this end, he said that "every effort should be made to ensure that the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work is utilized to underscore labour standards and fundamental principles relating to freedom of association, freedom from forced labour and child labour as well as equal opportunities, regardless of gender, race or creed."
He insisted that the ILO Declaration, which was adopted by last year's International Labour Conference should not be used "for punitive, protectionist trade purposes or other covert purposes which would undermine the credibility of the Organization."
He said that with financial resources to needy countries on the decline, the ILO "may wish to review its technical cooperation in order to augment and diversify support for decent work especially for the less privileged communities of the world."
Addressing the opening plenary session, the ILO Director-General, Mr. Juan Somavia called for modernization of the Organization to meet the challenge of globalization, and stressed that the adoption and application of a new Convention and Recommendation on the worst forms of child labour "would constitute an extraordinary contribution to a better world" to which he was personally committed.
The Director-General outlined the four strategic objectives which will define the ILO's action in the years ahead: the promotion of fundamental principles and rights at work, which he called "the historic mandate of the ILO"; the creation of employment, "the political mandate, the one that comes from the streets, from the people"; social protection, "the ethical mandate"; and promotion of tripartism and social dialogue, "the organizing principle of the ILO."
The abuses targeted by the drafters of the new international instruments include child slavery, forced labour, trafficking, debt bondage, serfdom, prostitution, pornography as well as various forms of hazardous and exploitative work.
In addition, Mr. Somavia who is participating in his first Conference as Director-General called for a strengthening of ILO's global presence and said that the quality of the Organization's work would define the extent of its influence: "It is necessary to put the universal values embodied by the ILO at the heart of social and economic analysis," he declared.
"The main and most important challenge is to identify the role that falls to us in a new world. It is clear that concern with the social consequences of globalization is increasing in all countries. We are aware that a mechanical projection of current trends will not resolve the problems of insecurity and uncertainty affecting so many people and families all over the world."
"Recognizing that solutions are not readily at hand", Mr. Somavia said "the ILO should have the means to contribute to the development of a new paradigm combining understanding of the social effects of macroeconomic policies, of the economic implications of social policies and of the impact of both on growth, investment, creation of enterprises and of decent employment."
He pointed to deficiencies in the multilateral system because of its "exclusively thematic organization: the IMF for finance, others for agriculture, education or health and the ILO for labour." But, he said "there can be no sectoral solutions to integrated global problems."
He said that while open economies are clearly more efficient than closed economies, "the credibility of open economies would increasingly be questioned politically if the advantages it produced were not equitably distributed."
Print
Email
