99th ILO annual Conference elects officers

GENEVA (ILO News) – The 99th Session of the International Labour Conference, which will run here till 18 June, opened today and elected as its President Mr Gilles de Robien, Government delegate of France.

The French representative called on delegates to follow-up on the dynamics of the ILO Jobs Summit in 2009 “at a time when we face a kind of crisis after the crisis”. Referring to the forthcoming French presidency of the G 20 and the G 8, he expressed the hope that the conference discussions will “inspire the G 20, particularly with respect to promoting the values of tripartism and social dialogue.”

The Conference elected as Vice-Presidents Ms Norma Powell (Employers) from Haiti, Mr Shigeru Nakajima (Workers) from Japan, and Mr Robert Nkili (Governments) from Cameroon.

Ms Powell is Vice-President of the Association of Industries of Haiti (ADIH). Mr Nkili is the Minister of Labour and Social Security of Cameroon and Chairperson of the Labour and Social Affairs Commission of the African Union. Mr Shigeru Nakajima is Adviser to the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (JTUC-RENGO) on International Affairs.

The Conference will draw some 4,000 delegates and advisers, including government representatives and leaders of workers’ and employers’ organizations from the ILO’s 183 member States. Each member State has the right to send four delegates to the Conference: two from government and one each representing workers and employers, each of whom may speak and vote independently.