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Pledges "creativity and modernization"
Workers' rights, child labour, poverty, unemployment,
gender discrimination and inadequate social protection to top agenda
Forecasting "a new stage of creativity and modernization" for the International Labour Organization, Mr. Juan Somavia of Chile was formally sworn in as the ninth Director-General in a special sitting of the Organization's Governing Body in Geneva on 22 March. Mr. Somavia is the first representative of the Southern hemisphere to serve as Director-General.
GENEVA - When the new Director-General of the International Labour Office (ILO), Mr. Juan Somavia of Chile, took office in March, he spoke of both the historic accomplishments of the 80-year-old Organization, and the tasks it will face at the turn of the century.
"We have agreed internationally to promote open societies and open economies", Mr. Somavia said as he took the helm of the Office in March. "That consensus will not hold if real benefits for ordinary people and their families are not put into the equation. I am proud of what the ILO stands for."
"The Nobel Prize in 1969 acknowledged its contribution to peace", he said. "I have the responsibility to modernize and help steer the tripartite structure to make ILO values prevail in the new global realities."
ILO's historic role
In a speech following his taking the oath of office, the new DG underscored the ILO's historic role in bringing social and political stability to industrialized countries since its founding in 1919, and declared "let us set ourselves the ambitious task of extending prosperity, rights and benefits to all working people in the world of the 21st century".
"As the first Director-General of the ILO from the developing world, I recognize my special responsibility to ensure that the development dimension is integral to all ILO activities", said Mr. Somavia, adding that finding solutions to such problems as child labour, poverty, unemployment, gender discrimination and inadequate social protection will be central to his mandate.
Mr. Somavia succeeds Mr. Michel Hansenne of Belgium who has served two five-year terms as Director-General since first being elected to the post in 1988. He expressed his appreciation for the work of the outgoing DG, whose tenure extended from 1989 to 1999 and "who defended the social values of the ILO through a decade of scepticism and challenge".
Mr. Somavia said that "the end of the cold war ushered in a remarkable consensus based on open markets, a new spirit of competition and creativity and greater respect for human rights and democratic institutions". However he added that "this positive evolution also obscured the social ends of economic growth, and the importance of healthy social institutions for healthy markets".
Mr. Somavia said he felt "a profound spiritual bond with my predecessors", receiving their legacy "with a deep sense of responsibility". He spoke in the presence of former ILO Director-General Francis Blanchard and family members of the first five DGs (including Ms. Sylvie Junod, the granddaughter of Albert Thomas - the ILO's first DG; Ms. Mildred Morse, the wife of David Morse, the first post-WWII DG; Ms. Jane Jenks, the wife of Wilfred Jenks - who was the author, together with Edward Phelan, of the Declaration of Philadelphia) and Mr. Jean-Jacques Oechslin, who served as head of the International Organization of Employers from 1980 to 1998.
Born on 21 April 1941, Juan Somavia earned degrees in law and economics from the Catholic University of Chile and the University of Paris. He is an attorney by profession and has had a long and distinguished career in civil and international affairs.
As Executive Secretary of the Chilean-Argentinian Chamber of Commerce he strengthened links between the business communities of the neighbouring countries. While Ambassador of Chile to the Andean Group and Chairman of its Governing Body, Mr. Somavia worked intensively in favour of regional integration. During the late 60s, while working in GATT, he played an active role in the participation of developing countries in the Kennedy Round. In the early 1970s, as Ambassador and Adviser to the Foreign Minister of Chile on Economics and Social affairs, he dealt with ILO-related issues.
Mr. Somavia actively participated in the restoration of democracy in Chile through holding the presidency of the International Commission of the Democratic Coalition in Chile and as founder and Secretary General of the South American Peace Commission 1986-1990. For his contributions to peace and human rights, he received the "Leonidas Proaño Peace Prize", presented to him by the Latin American Human Rights Association.
As Permanent Representative of Chile to the United Nations in New York since 1990, he was twice (1993 and 1998) President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). As Chairman of the Preparatory Committee, he led the negotiations that culminated in the World Summit for Social Development, held in Copenhagen in 1995. He served twice as President of the United Nations Security Council, in April 1996 and October 1997.
He has also written and lectured widely on trade, labour and human rights, and holds numerous citations and awards for his work regarding peace, human rights, and social development.
New challenges to be tackled
He cited a number of challenges for the ILO, including economic liberalization, which has "altered relationships between the state labour and business" and "changes in employment patterns and labour markets which have profoundly impacted on the ILO's constituents."
He said that "social change has led to new and powerful actors of civil society, many of whom are organized outside the production process" and that "social attitudes have changed, leading to greater individualism and narrowing of consensus on collective social responsibility".
The Declaration
On the subject of the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, which was adopted by the International Labour Conference in 1998, Mr. Somavia announced his intention to promote the Declaration "in the spirit in which it was adopted". He said that the Declaration was adopted as "a promotional instrument". In order for it to be effective and to enjoy the widest measure of support, "there can be no question of conditionality attached to the Declaration. Otherwise, it would risk the loss of its legitimacy in defining the minimum obligations incumbent on all ILO members."
The Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work reaffirms the commitment of the Organization's member States to "respect, to promote and to realize in good faith" the right of workers and employers to freedom of association and the effective right to collective bargaining, and to work toward the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour, the effective abolition of child labour and the elimination of discrimination with respect to employment and occupation.
Mr. Somavia urged wide support for the goals of the Declaration, which "should become a common objective of the multilateral system as a whole, including the Bretton Woods institutions. The ILO should seek to cooperate with all organizations in a common endeavour to best implement it. To this end, I would hope that all organizations should play a role. As an absolute minimum, they should undertake not to pursue policies whose practical effect would be to actually ignore these rights in practice."
"Economic outcomes are influenced more by market forces than by legal norms, social institutions or state intervention", he emphasized. "The predominance of market-based development is making the enterprise a central architect of social change and the principal source of employment. It is essential for the ILO to engage vigorously and credibly with the business community to pursue our goals and promote our values."
"We must seek to harmonize economic growth with social progress, efficiency with equity, freedom with order and change with stability. We must be inspired by an approach that stresses dialogue and negotiations among autonomous and democratic social organizations representing the interest of all groups in the society", added Mr. Somavia.
Stress on globalization
In welcoming comments, employer, worker and government representatives pledged to work with Mr. Somavia to tackle the new realities of changing eonomies and globalization.
In his comments, Ralf Thüsing (Germany), the Employer Vice-Chairman of the Governing Body, said, "You are taking up your office at a difficult time of change. Many things have been transformed. Therefore, we have a fine path which has been sketched out before us. We want to take this path together with you, Mr. Somavia, and move towards the ideals and the objectives of the ILO that we are committed to in a mind open to change and fully mindful of what is feasible, what is possible."
Speaking on behalf of workers, Mr. Bill Brett (United Kingdom), Member, General Council Trades Union Congress (TUC) and Vice-Chairman of the Governing Body of the ILO, said, "The ILO should ensure that globalization of the world economy serves people, not the other way round. The ILO should become an authoritative pillar of social policy in the UN system. The ILO should take its rightful place alongside the Bretton Woods institutions and others in determining the economic and social future of this world. We believe you have the qualities to do that."
Mr. Renaldo Rivera of the Government group of the Americas added, "Now, the ILO has to take up new responsibilities and challenges, and it must make its presence felt particularly in those countries where the phenomenon of globalization has generated and led to considerable concerns, expectations and greater risk of marginalization."
New DG's four strategic objectives:
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