Tanzania elected Vice-President of the International Labour Conference

GENEVA/DAR ES SALAAM/ADDIS ABABA – H.E. Modest Jonathan Mero, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at the Permanent Mission of the United Republic of Tanzania to the United Nations Office and international organizations in Geneva, will be acting as one of the Vice-Presidents during the 104rd annual International Labour Conference.

The Conference elected Ieva Jaunzeme, State Secretary of the Ministry of Welfare of Latvia, as President of this year ILC’s session while Modest J. Mero (Governments) from Tanzania, Ms Ronnie Goldberg (Employers) from the United States and Mr Bernard Thibault (Workers) from France were appointed as Vice-Presidents.

Prior to his appointment to Geneva (September 2013), Mr. Mero had been serving as Head of the Chancery at the Mission of Tanzania to the United Nations in New York since 2007. During that period, he represented his country in various activities within the United Nations system.

In 2005 and 2006, he was the Head of Policy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, as well as a member of the national team in developing various protocols of the Southern African Development Community and the East African Community. He was an Advisor on trade policy to the Executive Secretary of the Southern African Development Community in 2004 and 2005. From 1987 to 2005, Mr. Mero was a senior economist at the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Tanzania.

Mr. Mero has a B.Sc. from the University of Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania and a M.Sc. in investment and finance from Strathclyde Business School, University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, the United Kingdom. He also has a number of post graduate diplomas. From 2010 to 2012, he was an Adjunct Professor on African, Political, Social and Economic Affairs at Farleigh Dinkinson University, New Jersey, United States.

The ILC sets the broad policies of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and meets once a year in Geneva, Switzerland. The annual Conference brings together some 4,000 government, worker and employer delegates from the ILO’s 185 member States.

Often called a world parliament of labour, the Conference establishes and adopts international labour standards and is a forum for discussion of key social and labour questions. It also adopts the Organization's budget and elects its Governing Body.

During the two-week conference, delegates will discuss a broad range of issues, including the transition from the informal to the formal economy, small and medium-sized enterprises and decent and productive employment creation, social protection (labour protection), the application of international labour standards, and programme and budget proposals for 2016-17.

For more information please contact the ILO Communication team for Africa at [email protected] and/or the Department of Communication and Public Information at [email protected] or +4122/799-7912.