Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work Branch (FUNDAMENTALS)

Today, in the world:

138 million

children are victims of child labour and 54 million of whom are in hazardous work

Child Labour: Global estimates 2024

50 million

men, women and children are in modern slavery, including 28 million in forced labour and 22 million in forced marriage.

Modern slavery: Global estimates 2022

2.93 million

workers die as a result of work-related factors; 395 million workers sustain a non-fatal work injury; 2.41 billion workers are exposed to excessive heat.

Safety and Health at Work

More than 40 per cent

of the world’s population lives in countries that have ratified neither of the freedom of association and collective bargaining Conventions.

Hundreds of millions

of people suffer from discrimination because of their skin colour, ethnicity or social origin, religion or political beliefs, age, gender, sexual identity or orientation, disability or HIV status.

Such a situation cannot and must not continue. These issues are at the core of the ILO mission: in 1998, the ILO's member States expressed their shared commitment to uphold basic human rights at work by adopting the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.

FUNDAMENTALS mission and vision

ILO’s Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work Branch (FUNDAMENTALS) was established in 2013, bringing together the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) and the Department for the Promotion of the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (DECLARATION).

FUNDAMENTALS mission is to serve as a centre of excellence on policies and action to support the realization of fundamental principles and rights at work of the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. FUNDAMENTALS supports member States to fulfil their obligations to respect, to promote and to realize, in good faith, the fundamental principles and rights at work by facilitating the strengthening of relevant legislation and institutions including employers’ and workers’ organizations and the commitment of national duty bearers, rights-holders and enterprises.

The ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, adopted in 1998 and amended in 2022, is an expression of commitment by governments, employers' and workers' organizations to uphold basic human values - values that are vital to our social and economic lives. It affirms the obligations and commitments that are inherent in membership of the ILO, namely:

freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;

the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour;

the effective abolition of child labour;

the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation;

a safe and healthy working environment.

FUNDAMENTALS Strategy 2017-2023 - PDF 1.2 MB The teeth of the ILO - PDF 1.28 MB

FUNDAMENTALS Branch Team

Mr Philippe Vanhuynegem is ILO FUNDAMENTALS Chief since April 2021. He holds a Master Degree in Economics and a Special Master Degree in Econometrics from the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). He joined the ILO in 1997 starting in Ivory Coast and then in Lima Sub-regional office, as junior professional officer on social protection. He also worked in the ILO headquarters for several large technical cooperation programmes on social exclusion, social protection and local development. From 2011 to 2015, Mr Vanhuynegem was the senior enterprise specialist for the Andean Countries, based in Lima and the Director of the Sub regional Office for the Andean Countries from 2016 until March 2021.
Mr Federico BLANCO ALLAIS - Head of Unit

Research Cluster

Ms Anna B.KIS - Research Officer

Ms Maria Gabriella BREGLIA - Policy Research Officer

Ms Francesca FRANCAVILLA - Senior Economist

Mr Lorenzo GUARCELLO - Policy Research and Statistics Officer (RTA project)

Mr Scott LYON - Policy Research Officer

Mr Gady SAIOVICI - Senior Economist

Ms Luisa SÁNCHEZ IRIARTE MENDOZA - Statistician (STATIP Project)

Ms Sophia SCHAAPER - Junior Data Scientist

Vacant - Senior Research Officer

Monitoring and Evaluation Cluster

Ms Lucia DI ROSA - Monitoring and Evaluation Officer (Multi Partner Fund Project - 8.7 Accelerator Lab)

Ms Sherelle WILSON - Monitoring and Database Officer
Mr Martin HAHN - Head of Unit

Technical Advisory Cluster

Ms Miranda FAJERMAN - Technical Specialist on Forced Labour

Mr Christopher LAND-KAZLAUSKAS - Technical Specialist on Freedom of Association & Collective Bargaining

Ms Piyamal PICHAIWONGSE - Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work Technical Specialist

Mr Benjamin SMITH - Technical Specialist on Child Labour

Ms Lisa WONG-RAMESAR - Technical Specialist on Non-discrimination

Advocacy and Communication Cluster

Ms Liliana CASTILLO-RUBIO - Communication, Web and Databases Assistant

Ms Jane COLOMBINI - Technical Officer (Alliance 8.7)

Ms Andrea DÁVILA - Programme Coordinator (Global Business Network on Forced Labour (GBNFL))

Ms Nicola SCHALKOWSKI - Junior Professional Officer
Ms Sophie DE CONINCK - Head of Unit

Regional Desks

Ms Cristina MALDONADO - Programme and Operations Officer (Americas) (Alliance 8.7, IPEC+ Flagship Programme)

Ms Nadine OSSEIRAN - Senior Programme and Operations Officer (Asia Pacific)

Mr Grégoire YAMEOGO - Senior Programme and Operations Officer (Africa) (Informal/rural economy)

Thematic Areas

Ms Jo DE HOLLANDER - Technical Officer (Resource mobilization)

Ms Laurel HOFFNER - Junior Programme Officer (Supply Chains)

Ms Lucie PELFORT - Technical Officer (Bridge Project and RISE for impact Project)

Ms Silvia POSSENTI - Technical Officer (Supply Chains)

Ms Katherine TORRES - Senior Programme and Operations Officer (CLP Global Coordinator, Alliance 8.7) (Supply Chains)
Ms Jennie BASTIAENEN - Financial Control Officer

Mr Zied BOULIFI - Finance and Administrative Assistant

Ms Marie JEANJEAN - Administrator

Ms Kwandao KANLAYA - Finance and Administrative Assistant

Ms Lynette TANYWA - Finance and Administrative Assistant
Ms Thais FARIA - Latin America (Brasilia)

Mr Jean-Marie KAGABO - Africa (Abidjan)

Mr Insaf NIZAM - South Asia (New Delhi)

Ms Bharati PFLUG - Southeast Asia, East Asia and the Pacific (Bangkok)