All Director-General statements

World Teachers’ Day 2016

Valuing teachers, improving their status

Joint Message from Agency Heads on the occasion of World Teachers’ Day 2016 and the 50th anniversary of the 1966 UNESCO/ILO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers

71th UN General Assembly

Statement of ILO's Deputy Director-General Gilbert Houngbo at the UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants

United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation

South-South co-operation has a key role to play in promoting decent work for sustainable development

Traditional aid flows will not be enough to address development challenges. New partnerships with and among developing nations are both the right thing to do and one of the best ways to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, says ILO...

Occupational safety

Statement by Guy Ryder, ILO Director-General, in response to Tampaco Foils Limited fire in Bangladesh

"The ILO is ready to further support Bangladesh’s efforts to ensure the safety of its workers," says ILO Director-General Guy Ryder.

Social protection

Universal social protection is achievable and critical to implementing the new UN development agenda

Speech by the ILO's Director-General, Guy Ryder at the ILO-China-ASEAN High-level Seminar to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals on Universal Social Protection through South-South and Triangular Cooperation in Beijing, China.

G20 Summit

ILO head calls for setting the global economy on a faster and more inclusive development trajectory

World Water Week

Speech of the ILO Director-General at the Water and Jobs Seminar

International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples

Delivering economic and social justice for indigenous and tribal peoples through decent work

"Together, by building bridges and strengthening partnerships, guaranteeing equal access to education and most importantly, by empowering indigenous and tribal peoples through decent work, we can surmount the challenges ahead," says ILO...

Environmental and Social Framework

ILO Statement on the World Bank Environmental and Social Policy

The revised ESF, which sets forth the safeguard policies that the Bank and its borrowers will apply to future investment project financing, now includes a labour standard for protecting workers on Bank-financed investment projects.

G20, Beijing

ILO Director-General briefs G20 Labour and Employment Ministers on “Promoting Decent Work”

G20, Beijing

ILO Director-General's remarks to the G20 Labour and Employment Ministerial Meeting

In his statement to the G20 Labour and Employment Ministerial Meeting held in Beijing in July 2016, ILO Director-General Guy Ryder warned that poor prospects for economic growth risk becoming entrenched.

International Day of Cooperatives

Cooperatives: An old idea, but more relevant than ever in today’s world

Cooperatives are key to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, says ILO Director-General Guy Ryder on the occasion of International Day of Cooperatives.

ILO Director-General Guy Ryder “Decent Work in the Era of Sustainable Development”

"If this agenda can become a reality in the next 15 years, we will be turning the tide back in the direction of social justice and assuring a sustainable and fairer society for us and our children", says ILO Director-General Guy Ryder.

World Day against Child Labour 2016

End child labour in supply chains: It’s everyone’s business

"Acting together, it is within our means to make the future of work a future without child labour," says ILO Director-General Guy Ryder on the occasion of World Day against Child Labour.

105th Session of the International Labour Conference

ILO Director General opening remarks to the World of Work Summit

World Environment Day 2016

Preserve the environment to boost development and provide jobs

Illegal wildlife trade harms not only the environment, it risks jobs, development and livelihoods, says ILO Director-General Guy Ryder, on World Environment Day

105th International Labour Conference

ILO Director-General’s opening remarks to the 105th International Labour Conference

International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia

The right to be yourself at work

"Today, on this International Day I would underline the fundamental importance of social justice and decent work as a key element of positive mental health and well-being of LGBT persons, and an essential expression of LGBT rights," says ILO...

Sustainable Development and the Future of Work in the context of the Jubilee of Mercy: Statement of Commitment and Action

Joint statement of Catholic organisations, movements of trade unions and of cooperatives, associations of business leaders, issued at a Global Seminar on “Sustainable Development and the Future of Work in the context of the Jubilee of Mercy” held in...

PDF Sustainable Development and the Future of Work in the context of the Jubilee of Mercy: Statement of Commitment and Action