RIGHTS AT WORK International Labour Standards
Conventions Approved by Arab States
ILOLEX Database of International Labour Standards

ILO Conventions and Recommendations are a vital source of protection for working people all over the world. However, except for a handful of Conventions, most ILO standards are not well known. Ratification is also a growing problem because of treaty congestion. Of the 23 Conventions and two Protocols adopted in the 15 years from 1983 to 1998, only three have received at least 20 ratifications. Even when ratified, many Conventions are only weakly implemented.

If ILO is to ensure its continued relevance in this field and reassert the usefulness of international standards, it will need to reinvigorate its efforts and experiments with new approaches. Fortunately, the Constitution of ILO offers a wide range of action and provides the necessary tools. This work is already under way, having started at the 1994 session of the Conference and continued at subsequent sessions and within the Governing Body, especially as concerns the revision of standards. This debate should be extended and deepened.

A number of actions are necessary to raise the profile and increase the relevance of ILO's work on standards: · Preparing more thoroughly the ground for new standards:
Exploring new methods of standard setting
Engaging in deeper analysis of existing standards, their synergy, lacunae, and impact an various groups
Accelerating the revision of outdated instruments to build on progress already made and promoting priority standards as problem-solving tools
Stepping up efforts to help countries implement ILO standards
Enhancing the impact of the supervision of standards
Reasserting the role of ILO standards in the broader world context