Preface
At the beginning of the 1990s, the ILO embarked on a series of reforms to ensure its continuing relevance and effectiveness. This approach gave rise to the active partnership policy which brought the Organization closer to its constituents and strengthened dialogue and cooperation with them. That policy encouraged member States to examine in collaboration with the ILO their programmes and priority needs, such an assessment being essential for the design of economic and social policy and development programmes. This reform, which has met with widespread approval, will be evaluated in depth in 1997 and the findings of this evaluation should assist the effective implementation of this policy in the biennium 1998-99.
Globalization and the various forms this takes — including regional integration, growing trade liberalization and the increasingly influential role of world summits and major international conferences — has caused the Organization to redefine its strategy and take up the question of the social dimensions of these issues at the international level. It has undeniably made its voice heard and so provided further proof of its relevance. There is scope for some satisfaction that its advice has been called for at several major international meetings, thus confirming the continuing relevance of its mandate.
Efficiency and the need to produce results are a major concern in this Programme and Budget. The description of programme activities seeks to identify the problems and needs of constituents, specify the objectives likely to overcome them and highlight the contributions the Office might make to attain these objectives. It goes without saying that success in the field of social justice cannot be measured in the short term, and the problem of child labour is not going to disappear by the end of the 1990s. But what can we reasonably hope to achieve by the end of this century? The replies to this question are to be found in the description of activities under the various programmes, but it would also be appropriate to highlight some of them at this point.
Standard-setting activities should result in a significant improvement in the respect of international labour Conventions concerning workers’ fundamental rights. This improvement will be measured in terms of the increase in the number of ratifications of these instruments and also by the improved application of the provisions concerning vital issues such as freedom of association, the right to collective bargaining, non-discrimination and the abolition of forced labour. The Committee of Experts for the Application of Conventions and Recommendations will prepare an objective assessment of the results obtained.
The progress achieved in the area of social dialogue and industrial relations will be judged by the concerned employer and worker organizations; indeed, they will be able to assess to what extent the support received from the Office, in various forms, helps to strengthen their ability to serve their members and to what extent measures are being taken to encourage their involvement in economic and social policy discussions. Furthermore, the activities envisaged to follow up the World Summit for Social Development should in general result in the preparation of national policies giving priority to job creation and the alleviation of poverty, as well as their actual implementation.
There is already some evidence of the changes brought about by the implementation of the International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), in so far as many countries affected by this major problem are now seeking to address it. Significant progress may be expected in the biennium 1998-99, especially with respect to the eradication of the most dangerous and intolerable forms of child exploitation.
The effectiveness of the ILO’s action very much depends upon whether the Organization’s constituents have access to its vast wealth of labour information and experience built up over the years. In this respect, the biennium 1998-99 will be something of a revolution; technological progress will allow all the Organization’s constituents to benefit directly from this vast source of information, which is only relevant to them if it is easily accessible and usable. In future, they will be able to obtain information within their own institutions, and without leaving their countries. It is expected that this revolution will significantly consolidate the ILO’s role as a centre of excellence and reference in the field of employment and labour and improve its ability to provide services to constituents in the member States.
We shall seek to analyse the influence and impact of all our means of action and programmes in a systematic and objective way, in order to make them better known and share the findings. This approach constitutes a further important reform which will provide the Organization with increased transparency and greater credibility.
For a number of years, the Office has reacted positively to the budgetary constraints encountered by a large majority of its member States. Its first step was to impose stringent financial management, by restructuring and organizational change in order to generate productivity gains and measures to reduce operational expenditure. These resulted in savings associated with the rationalization of the functioning of meetings and the organization of the Office and the introduction of new practices of decentralized management. This policy will be applied even more rigorously in the biennium 1998-99 because the level of the proposed Programme and Budget is considerably below zero real growth, although the number of member States and the services sought from the Organization are constantly on the increase.
I remain confident that the Organization and its constituents will be able, at the end of 1999, to provide evidence of striking progress towards the goal of social justice.
15 January 1997
Michel Hansenne