This 106th Session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) took place in June 2017, in Geneva, Switzerland. This year’s ILC discussed issues such as climate change, the future of work, occupational safety and health, social protection, forced labour with a World of Work Summit focusing on women in the world of work. The World Day Against Child Labour was also observed during the conference on 12 June.
It was last year that one of my colleagues from the Regional Office suggested that I apply for the ILC. Since then I was very excited and eager to apply so that I could provide support to the upcoming ILC. I feel it is rare for a technical person like myself to get an opportunity to travel to the International Labour Organization’s (ILO’s) Headquarters (HQ) in Geneva, and I was all the more excited by the exposure I would receive.
I was fortunate that my application to work as a Cyber Café Assistant for the 106th International Labour Conference in Geneva from 5-16 June 2017 got accepted. This would be a good opportunity for me to get to know over 4,000 delegates from around the globe, including from Nepal. Moreover, I was very happy and confident when I learnt that Richard Howard, the Director for the ILO Country Office in Nepal would participate during the conference, and the Right Honourable Bidya Devi Bhandari, the President of Nepal would join us.

On my first day, I was on my way to the ILO office to meet our focal person to collect my badge.  Coincidentally, while waiting at the Lobby, I had the opportunity to run into the Director General of the ILO, Guy Ryder. I went to introduce myself and informed him that I came from Nepal to support the ILC. He recalled his recent visit to Nepal and was very happy to welcome me.  I took the advantage to take a selfie with him.
After the selfie, I met the concerned official from HQ who was responsible to assign our duties. I also met two other colleagues from Lima and Addis Ababa, who were waiting at the lobby. Our focal person briefed us and took us to the UN Palais des Nations where the conference took place showing all the places and rooms where we need to provide support.

There were two cyber cafés and a multimedia room where we had to stay on standby and provide support to many other rooms in the building. Most of the rooms had network printers installed and the multifunction machines marked with ILO to be taken care of. Hundreds of computers and printers were installed and we needed to make sure that all of them were working with enough papers in the printers and copiers. Our primary job was to go around all the locations several times a day to confirm all the printers, photocopiers contained enough papers and were working. In addition to this, we were also responsible to provide support to all the users if they faced any difficulties accessing the equipment.
The first few days of the conference were overwhelming. Various people from different countries came to seek support, including installing the ILO Application onto their mobile devices. The ILC had a mobile application that was very user friendly and effective to help the participants when necessary. Moreover, some of the delegates who could not use computers made requests to type their speeches and translate them into English. We also had the chance to help colleagues configure iPads that were used to cast the vote for the election.

The former Director for the ILO Country Office in Nepal Mr. Shengjie Li and the former Regional IT Officer, Mr. Anatolii Paladi provided invaluable support while I was at the ILC. Mr. Paladi and I got to speak of the new happenings and the technological changes within the ILO, and he also gave me a tour of the office and introduced me to IT colleagues.

At the conference, I was more than pleased to witness Nepal securing the Deputy Member seat at the ILO Governing Body and see Ms. Binda Pandey from the Workers Union secure a seat as well. During the World of Work Summit, I had the opportunity to hear the President of Nepal, along with the President of Malta and the President of Mauritius, address the event.
As a technical person and working for the IT and Administrative department in the office, this was a very good opportunity for me to see what the ILC is about, how is it conducted, observe the meetings and plenary discussions as well as watch the elections conducted to select the focal points from Employers, Workers and from the Government from all over the world. I also had the privilege of meeting colleagues at the HQ personally whom I had communicated with only through emails before. It is now more comfortable for me to seek support and guidance from them whenever required.
The opportunity has been a very good platform for me to network with ILO Officials and to build my personal relationship with colleagues and participants from different offices, including delegates from Nepal. This kind of opportunities should be provided to all staff that shall benefit ILO globally.

Sanjeeb Manandhar, IT and Administrative Assistant.