The 93rd Session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) opened on Tuesday 31 May and will run till 16 June.

Delegates to the ILC are to consider a wide range of issues. These include efforts to end the global scourge of forced labour, trends in working hours, occupational safety and health, decent work for young people, the situation of workers in the occupied Arab territories, Myanmar and other countries, and working conditions in the world's fishing sector. The Conference will also take up the programme and budget proposals of the ILO for the 2006-07 biennium.

Working agenda:

• The delegates will hold a second and final discussion on a new international labour standard that revises the seven existing ILO standards on fishing that were adopted between 1920 and 1966. The discussions will focus on safety and working conditions of some 30 million people who work in the global fishing sector, one of the world's most dangerous.

  A new fishing Convention would cover more than 90 per cent of workers in the world's fishing industry, the vast majority of whom work on small vessels in developing countries. The existing Conventions cover only about 10 per cent of all fishing industry workers. It is intended that fishers on large vessels and those on international voyages would also be adequately covered, including by special provisions, as appropriate.

• The Conference will also discuss a survey on the Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919, (No.1), and the Hours of Work (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1930 (No.30). According to the survey, the changes having taken place since the two Conventions were adopted warrant their revision. If such a decision is taken by the tripartite membership of the ILO, any new instrument would need to provide an effective protection for workers as well as to contain more flexible forms of working time arrangements for both workers and employers.

• The delegates to the Conference will also discuss pathways to decent work for youth and the role of the international community in advancing the youth employment agenda. Youth unemployment has reached record levels in recent years. Globally, less than half of the youth available for work had jobs in 2004.

• The Committee on Occupational Safety and Health will consider a promotional framework in the area of occupational safety and health. Delegates will discuss the elements of a possible future ILO instrument in this area which could take the form of a Convention, a Recommendation, or both, or a Declaration.

The annual gathering draws some 4,000 delegates, including heads of State, labour ministers and leaders of workers' and employers' organizations from most of the ILO's 178 member States. Each member country 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.

The role of the ILC is to adopt and oversee compliance with international labour standards, establish the budget of the Organization and elect members of the Governing Body. Since 1919, the Conference has served as a major international forum for debate on social and labour questions of worldwide importance.