Annex I

Action taken on the resolutions adopted by the International Labour Conference at its 82nd to 87th Sessions (1995-99)

In pursuance of a decision taken by the Governing Body at its 152nd Session (1962), the Director-General's Report to the Conference regularly includes a review of the implementation of resolutions adopted by the Conference over the five preceding years. This annex provides information on the steps taken in 1998 and 1999 to give effect to the resolutions adopted by the Conference at its 82nd to 87th Sessions. Information given in previous years is generally not repeated, and action taken on the implementation of some resolutions is not described at length if the relevant information appears in the main text of the Report.

82nd Session (1995)

As a result of measures adopted to reform the International Labour Conference, there was no Resolutions Committee during the 82nd Session of the Conference.

83rd Session (1996)

The elimination of child labour

See Chapters 1 and 4 for a detailed account of activities in the field of the elimination of child labour. This resolution was an important step in the process leading to the adoption in 1999 of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (No. 182).

Tripartite consultation at the national level on economic and social policy

As a follow-up to this resolution various research and technical cooperation activities have been undertaken to encourage the promotion of tripartite cooperation among the social partners. The Office provided regular technical assistance services to help member States to draft, revise or codify labour laws, taking account of the basic principles of ILO standards. Many meetings, seminars and workshops organized and specifically encouraged the ratification and effective application of the Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 144), and related Recommendations (paragraph 11(a) of the resolution).

In addition to the regular cooperation in strengthening the capacity of employers' and workers' organizations, the Office contributed to the promotion of tripartite cooperation through its participation in technical assistance programmes carried out by regional and area offices and MDTs, especially in countries in transition and those facing severe structural adjustment problems. Advisory services were provided in high-level national tripartite consultation bodies in a number of member States (paragraph 11(b) and (c) of the resolution). The Office also undertook a number of studies which directly or indirectly advocated the promotion of tripartite consultation at the national level on economic and social policies.

The restructuring of the ILO, and in particular the establishment of social dialogue as one of four strategic objectives, has already led to significant and more coordinated efforts within the Office to promote tripartite consultations and social dialogue on economic and social policy in 1999 -- as reflected in Chapters 1 and 3 of this Report. The new social dialogue initiatives will provide significantly enhanced support for both tripartism and social dialogue in the future.

Employment policies in a global context

In its conclusions concerning employment policies in a global context the 1996 International Labour Conference called on the Office for action at three levels: international (relations with other international agencies and the promotion of standards), national, and through multi-country analysis of issues and data collection. At the international level, the Office has responded by continuing the regular preparation of the World Employment Report (World Employment Report 1998-99: Employability in the global economy -- How training matters), by assisting member States in the effective application of standards, and by strengthening its dialogue with the Bretton Woods institutions. The progress of such dialogue has been regularly reported to the Committee on Employment and Social Policy of the Governing Body. At the national level the Office was asked to continue the series of employment policy reviews; 14 of these have been undertaken. Their analysis of employment problems was an input into the discussion of the International Consultation concerning Follow-up on the World Summit for Social Development (November 1999). Finally the Office was asked to develop an expanded range of indicators of labour market performance which it has done by the collection and publication of Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM). Other requests for Office analyses of multi-country experience concerned the impact of trade and financial liberalization on employment (where country studies presented to the Governing Body's Working Party on the Social Dimensions of the Liberalization of International Trade have generated considerable information), government support for training (followed up in the World Employment Report), support for small and medium-sized enterprises (where the international small enterprise programme is active), and the possible trade-off between employment growth and social protection. A contribution to the latter was made by the comparative employment policy reviews of four smaller European countries (Austria, Denmark, Ireland and the Netherlands).

84th (Maritime) Session (1996)

Application of the Seafarers' Hours of Work and the Manning of Ships Convention, 1996 (No. 180)

The Conference requested the Office to develop guidelines and standardized formats relating to shipboard working arrangements and hours of work and rest of seafarers, as referred to in Articles 5 and 8 of Convention No. 180.

Since the IMO International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW), 1978, as amended in 1995, also contains provisions on hours of rest and the posting of watch schedules, a joint IMO/ILO working group was established following consultations between the Secretary-General of the IMO and the Director-General of the ILO.

The guidelines and model formats as agreed by the working group were approved by the 69th Session (May 1998) of the IMO's Maritime Safety Committee. At its 273rd Session (November 1998), the Governing Body of the International Labour Office took note of the report of the working group and authorized the Director-General of the ILO to consult with the Secretary-General of the IMO regarding the joint publication of this document.

The IMO/ILO Guidelines for the Development of Tables of Seafarers' Shipboard Working Arrangements and Formats of Records of Seafarers' Hours of Work or Hours of Rest were jointly published in 1999.

IMO/STCW Convention of 1978, as amended, and the application of the Seafarers' Hours of Work and the Manning of Ships Convention, 1996 (No. 180)

The text of the resolution has been communicated to the Secretary-General of the IMO, as well as to ILO member States.

Application of revised Convention No. 9 to the fisheries sector

The Director-General has communicated the resolution to the governments of member States and, through them, to employers' and workers' organizations, drawing their attention to the promotion of the application of the Recruitment and Placement of Seafarers Convention, 1996 (No. 179), which revises the Placing of Seamen Convention, 1920 (No. 9), to fishermen following consultations between representative organizations of fishermen and fishing vessel owners and the competent authority. The report prepared for the Tripartite Meeting on Safety and Health in the Fishing Industry contains a review of certain ILO Conventions and Recommendations relevant to the fishing industry.

The recruitment and placement of seafarers

The text of the resolution was communicated to the 85th Session of the International Labour Conference in 1997. Seafarers were excluded from the scope of the Private Employment Agencies Convention (No. 181) adopted by that session of the Conference.

Inspection of seafarers' working and living conditions

A draft revising the Code of practice on the inspection of labour conditions on board ship has been prepared. A meeting of experts to discuss the revised code will be proposed at a later stage.

85th Session (1997)

No resolutions were adopted during the 85th Session of the Conference.

86th Session (1998)

Resolution concerning youth employment

A document on youth employment was prepared and discussed by the Governing Body at its 274th Session in March 1999 (document GB.274/ESP/3). Following the decision taken by the Governing Body at its 273rd Session in November 1998, a document on human resources training and development, with a chapter on youth employment, is submitted for general discussion at the 88th Session (2000) of the Conference. The work on youth employment is continuing within the Employment Sector in the 2000-01 biennium under the InFocus Programme on Knowledge, Skills and Employability (see Chapter 2 for details of activities in the field of youth employment).

Resolution concerning the possible adoption of international instruments for the protection of workers in the situations identified by the Committee on Contract Labour

In this resolution the Conference invited the Governing Body: (a) to place these issues on the agenda of a future session of the International Labour Conference with a view to the possible adoption of a Convention supplemented by a Recommendation and to take action so that this process is completed within no more than four years; and (b) to instruct the Director-General to hold meetings of experts to examine at least the following issues arising out of the deliberations of the Committee on Contract Labour: which workers, in the situations that have begun to be identified in the Committee, are in need of protection; appropriate ways in which such workers can be protected, and the possibility of dealing separately with the different situations; how such workers would be defined, bearing in mind the different legal systems that exist and language differences; and to take other measures with a view to completing the work commenced by the said Committee. At its June 1998 session the Governing Body took steps to carry out preparatory work during the 1998-99 biennium for the proposed meetings of experts in subsequent biennia (document GB.272/PFA/1). At its June 1999 session it established the agenda and composition of a tripartite Meeting of Experts on Workers in Situations Needing Protection, to be held in May 2000 (document GB.275/9).

As part of the preparatory work for the Meeting of Experts decided upon by the Governing Body, the Office has undertaken research into the work situations prevailing in 26 countries in order to determine the need for protection of the workers concerned. These situations are: subordinate employment, self-employment, self-employment with an underlying economic dependency, and "triangular employment relationships" -- which refer to the possible link between employer, worker and a third party who benefits from their services. Similarly, on the instructions of the Governing Body, informal meetings have been held by region dealing with different legal systems.

Worst forms of child labour

Following discussions on a new Convention and Recommendation concerning child labour, the Conference unanimously adopted a resolution to place the item on the agenda of its 87th Session in June 1999.

The focal point of the ILO's work in this field during the biennium was the adoption by the Conference in June 1999 of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (No. 182) and Recommendation (No. 190) (see other chapters for a detailed account of activities in the field of the elimination of child labour).

87th Session (1999)

Resolution on the widespread use of forced labour in Myanmar

The Conference adopted an unprecedented resolution on the widespread use of forced labour in Myanmar in which it expressed its grave concern at the Government's flagrant and persistent failure to comply with the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), as concluded by an ILO Commission of Inquiry. The resolution states that Myanmar's State Peace and Development Council has continued "to inflict the practice of forced labour -- nothing but a contemporary form of slavery -- on the people of Myanmar".

At its 276th Session (November 1999) the Governing Body decided to ask the Director-General to prepare an update to his report of May 1999, and to inform the members of the Governing Body by 28 February 2000, "of the measures taken by the Government of Myanmar to give effect to the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry, taking into account in its preparation all the comments made by the Government of Myanmar, the information provided by the employers' and workers' organizations, and all other reliable sources". It also included on the agenda for its 277th Session (March 2000) a decision as to whether to include on the agenda of the Conference in June 2000 the question of the application to Myanmar of article 33 of the ILO Constitution (see also Chapter 1).

Conclusions concerning the role of the ILO in technical cooperation

The Committee on Technical Cooperation discussed the role of the ILO in technical cooperation and adopted a resolution with conclusions which will guide the ILO in its future conception and management of technical cooperation. The last review of this kind took place in 1993.

The ILO was requested to take steps toward a "strategic orientation of the ILO's technical cooperation policy" by improving focus and impact, consolidating and developing technical excellence, sound management of the technical cooperation programme, effective resource mobilization and programme delivery, improved monitoring and evaluation and a capacity for rapid response. To this end, the Office was requested to provide an implementation plan, including a timetable, to the November 1999 session of the Committee on Technical Cooperation of the Governing Body.

Annex II

Status of regular budget appropriations for the financial period 1998-99 (in US dollars)
 

Annex III

Expenditure on technical cooperation programmes, 1998-99 (excluding administrative expenditure)

By source of funding

 
By geographical region

Annex IV

Expenditure on technical cooperation by field of activity and source of funds, 1998-99 (excluding administrative expenditure)