GENEVA (ILO News) - In an address delivered today to the International Labour Conference in Geneva, the President of the Swiss Confederation, Madam Ruth Dreifuss, called upon the International Labour Organization (ILO) to resume its pioneering role and to redefine its place in the international community so as to be better prepared to meet the social challenges of globalization.

Madam Dreifuss also took this opportunity to announce that Switzerland would soon deposit instruments of ratification for the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), which she said "must remain the point of reference for the future" establishing the minimum age of child labour. She also called for the ratification and universal application of the new Convention on the most extreme forms of child labour, which is due to be adopted at the current session of the Conference.

Speaking to the delegates of the 174 ILO member States during a special sitting of the 87 ^th Session of the Conference, Madam Dreifuss recalled that social development in Switzerland had historically been closely linked to the ILO. She stated "the fact that maternity protection, which in 1919 was the subject of one of the first ILO Conventions is now once again on the agenda just as Switzerland is hoping to enact legislation in this area shows the interdependence of national and international developments".

One year after the establishment of the ILO in 1919, its secretariat, the International Labour Office, was set up in Geneva. "Switzerland", said Madam Dreifuss, "has always been very proud of its presence here within our borders, and this prestigious institution, after the International Committee of the Red Cross, has become a beacon of human rights and social justice in Geneva".

"The results achieved since 1919 have endowed the ILO with an undisputed international legitimacy for establishing the basic international conditions conducive to equitable economic and social relations within and between countries". Those instruments, she said, "remain valid today, and still contribute to peace".

Still, "other challenges lie before us, related to internationalization and the liberalization of trade, challenges which make the ILO indeed still more relevant".

Faced with the economic and financial crisis which "has resulted in a definite decline in social progress", leading to social turmoil and even ethnic conflicts which "plunge entire populations into destitution and marginalization", the ILO, "with its tripartite tradition, its experience and its ability to grasp everyday realities, must once again rediscover its role as a pioneer. It must develop new ideas and redefine its role in the international community".

"One of the major challenges is that of defining the ILO's rightful place among the international organizations." Cooperation among intergovernmental organizations must develop in various directions, "with the World Trade Organization, the Bretton Woods institutions, and all the United Nations agencies, but always based on the ideals of the International Labour Organization, the world's social conscience".

Noting the "clear complementarity between the objectives of the multilateral trade system and those of the ILO", Madam Dreifuss emphasized the need to ensure that "trade liberalization and social justice are mutually reinforcing".

"Achieving such an objective will be possible only if we act coherently within the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the ILO, but will also require effective cooperation between the two organizations. This kind of rapprochement should lead to open discussion on the interaction between trade and the core labour standards".

Still, she warned, "the defence of human dignity should not be confused with protectionism. Applying protectionist measures in the name of respect for labour standards would be a self-defeating strategy."

The use of labour standards for protectionist ends was clearly rejected by WTO at its Ministerial Conference in Singapore held in December 1996, when WTO Members declared that it was up to the ILO to promote fundamental social standards and principles. "Those Members must give the ILO the legal and financial tools that it needs to fulfil that mandate. The Singapore compromise can only live up to the hopes it has raised if the ILO and the other United Nations organizations are given the resources they need to formulate solutions to the social problems created by globalization."

Referring to the complementarity between the World Bank and the ILO, Madam Dreifuss said that "more light should be shed on the interaction between labour standards and the economy. We must build a bridge between economists and human rights defenders to establish the link between economics and social policy". Quality research is indispensable to "know more about the social, economic and political conditions in which economic growth, social progress and the promotion of democracy and human rights will be mutually reinforced. That is why "Switzerland supports the studies and efforts undertaken jointly by the ILO with organizations such as the World Bank and WTO."

"The aim is to ensure that in every country, respect for social rights provides a comparative advantage that testifies to the proper functioning of the national economy". But the ILO must also strengthen its cooperation with all the agencies in the United Nations system. It will have the opportunity to do so at the follow-up conference to the World Summit for Social Development held in Copenhagen in 1995, which is due to take place in Geneva from 26 to 30 June 2000. The objective of the conference, she said, was "to provide the community of States with the best possible platform to enable it to solve the economic and social problems of the next millennium".

"We hope that Geneva 2000 will emphasize the social dimension of globalization. As far as Switzerland is concerned, the priorities of the follow-up conference should be unemployment and fair working conditions. With more than 150 million people unemployed, with unemployment rife among young people and social marginalization, the world is faced with a time bomb which has to be de-fused."

"It is those who work here in this institution who will have to assume much of the responsibility for putting forward solutions to these crucial problems. This means that bringing the follow-up conference here imposes a great responsibility on the ILO - but also presents it with a great opportunity."

Recalling that the depression of the 1930s had led the world to brink of destruction, the President of the Swiss Confederation urged the international community to respond better to the challenges it faces today. "Together with the Bretton Woods institutions and WTO, the ILO is one of the three pillars of international economic culture. Thanks to its broad range of competence and its moral authority, it is in a good position to provide a response to those questions. It is therefore the duty of the ILO to act on the words that were written on the former ILO building, now the headquarters of WTO: If you want peace, seek justice."

The 87 ^th Session of the International Labour Conference is being held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva from 1 to 17 June 1999. It is presided over by Mr. Alhaji Mohammad Mumuni, the Minister of Labour of Ghana.