Consultation
The first area of action of the Ethics Officer is the advisory function. Upon request, the Ethics Officer counsels the administration and staff members on questions of ethics and advises on the permissibility of outside activities. This is a 360-degree advisory function, since it embraces both the administration and officials, whose interests are not necessarily the same.
The consultation is not intended to replace existing procedures, in particular as far as outside activities are concerned, but merely to provide interested officials with confidential guidance before they take action, when it is requested.
In principle, the Ethics Office is not competent to receive reports of misconduct. Reports of misconduct received by the Ethics Office are forwarded to the appropriate authority. All staff members have a duty to report suspect cases of misconduct to the relevant office (e.g. head of your department, HRD, Treasurer or Chief Internal Auditor).
Furthermore, the Ethics Officer does not deal with administrative decisions regarding employment and does not resolve grievances. In case of conflict, staff members are encouraged to seek the impartial and independent advice of the Mediator. Or, they can seek a review by HRD, go to the Joint Advisory Appeals Board (JAAB), and ultimately appeal to the ILO Administrative Tribunal.
Since its establishment in 2006, the majority of cases that have been dealt with by the Ethics Office and for which advice has been provided have primarily concerned: outside activities (e.g. of a civic, political, academic or economic nature); questions regarding recruitment or other types of contracts for relatives of officials, gifts and decorations from governments or from any other external sources; and other questions involving a potential conflict of interest. For further details of past cases, please refer to the "annual reports" of the Ethics Officer, available on this website.
The consultation is not intended to replace existing procedures, in particular as far as outside activities are concerned, but merely to provide interested officials with confidential guidance before they take action, when it is requested.
In principle, the Ethics Office is not competent to receive reports of misconduct. Reports of misconduct received by the Ethics Office are forwarded to the appropriate authority. All staff members have a duty to report suspect cases of misconduct to the relevant office (e.g. head of your department, HRD, Treasurer or Chief Internal Auditor).
Furthermore, the Ethics Officer does not deal with administrative decisions regarding employment and does not resolve grievances. In case of conflict, staff members are encouraged to seek the impartial and independent advice of the Mediator. Or, they can seek a review by HRD, go to the Joint Advisory Appeals Board (JAAB), and ultimately appeal to the ILO Administrative Tribunal.
Since its establishment in 2006, the majority of cases that have been dealt with by the Ethics Office and for which advice has been provided have primarily concerned: outside activities (e.g. of a civic, political, academic or economic nature); questions regarding recruitment or other types of contracts for relatives of officials, gifts and decorations from governments or from any other external sources; and other questions involving a potential conflict of interest. For further details of past cases, please refer to the "annual reports" of the Ethics Officer, available on this website.
Reliable and regularly updated financial and results data are an essential component of informing, monitoring, reporting and evaluating progress towards achieving decent work for all and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As a results-driven organization, the ILO uses open data to share progress on performance with its constituents, partners and the broader public. The ILO sees transparency as part of the larger process of informed governance and organizational learning. Transparency makes the ILO a reliable partner and ensures its accountability.
Based on a multi-phase action plan, the ILO is also looking at how it can improve its own systems and address any gaps in its current capacity to collect, manage and publish financial and results data.
The ILO is committed to preventing fraudulent and other proscribed practices and to actively promote an anti-fraud culture among officials, external collaborators, grantees, implementing partners and vendors. The ILO has zero tolerance to proscribed practices. The Office processes for reporting different kinds of proscribed practices and the subsequent investigation, review/recommendation, decision and sanction (where applicable) are shown in the flow chart below:
The ILO's efforts for continuous improvement build on a long-standing history of openness, transparency and accountability in all ILO operations, including:
Improving transparency means:
- establishing an evidence-base for the results achieved;
- providing insights on how, where and for what the ILO uses its resources;
- ensuring value for money;
- enhancing coordination between recipients and contributors to ILO support and increasing coherence in the multilateral system;
- putting in practice internationally recognized principles for effective development cooperation.
Based on a multi-phase action plan, the ILO is also looking at how it can improve its own systems and address any gaps in its current capacity to collect, manage and publish financial and results data.
The ILO is committed to preventing fraudulent and other proscribed practices and to actively promote an anti-fraud culture among officials, external collaborators, grantees, implementing partners and vendors. The ILO has zero tolerance to proscribed practices. The Office processes for reporting different kinds of proscribed practices and the subsequent investigation, review/recommendation, decision and sanction (where applicable) are shown in the flow chart below:
The ILO's efforts for continuous improvement build on a long-standing history of openness, transparency and accountability in all ILO operations, including:
- enhancing and developing external and internal dashboards designed to enhance transparency and accountability as well as provide an integrated overview of activities. These include public platforms on Development Cooperation, i-eval Discovery and Decent Work Results as well as internal tools to enable managers to make data-driven decisions.
- regular and public reporting to the Governing Body on results and the use of resources through the biennial Programme and Budget and the Programme Implementation Report;
- a prominent role for evaluation – managed by the ILO Evaluation Office (EVAL) in alignment with the ILO Evaluation Policy and Strategy – as an accountability and organizational learning tool to help ILO constituents and staff members support decent work and social justice;
- a Public Information Disclosure Policy to ensure that information on ILO policies, strategies and operational activities is available to the widest possible audience;
- an Office of Internal Audit and Oversight (IAO) that evaluates the ILO’s risk management, internal control, and governance processes, providing independent assurance to the Director-General and the Governing Body that those processes are in place and effective, as well insight and advice for improvements where needed. The IAO’s mandate also includes conducting fact finding investigations in support of the ILO’s zero tolerance with respect to fraud and corruption; and responding to allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse;
- a Committee on Accountability and a Vendor Review Committee, that review cases of alleged fraudulent and other proscribed practices involving ILO officials/ex-officials or external vendors, and make appropriate recommendations to the Director-General or the Treasurer and Financial Comptroller for the disciplinary actions or sanctions.
- an Independent Oversight Advisory Committee that reviews and monitors governance, accountability and ethical issues, reporting on them to the Governing Body;
- an Ethics Officer tasked with fostering a culture of integrity and high ethical standards;
- adherence to International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS); and
- collaborating with the United Nations Joint Inspection Unit, the independent external oversight body of the UN system.