INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION
(extract from "South/North Conference: new alliances for dignity in Labour"
background material, october 1995)

The Intemational Labour Organization was established in 1919, in the framework of the League of Nations, as a tripartite body concerned with social and labour issues.
In 1946 it was absorbed into the United Nations as a specialized agency distinguished from all other bodies. Operating within the UN, decisions are reached, in all of its sections, on a tripartite basis: representatives not only of the govemments of member states (more than 150), but also of national workers' and employers' organizations have seats in the various delegations to the ILO, and both workers' and employers' organizations have voting power in their own right and require no mandate from or consultation with the governments of their respective countries.
The Intemational Labour Conference, the highest organ within the ILO, meets once a year. All member states send four delegates - two representing government and one each representing workers' and employers' organizations - assisted by deputy delegates and advisers.
The Governing Body is chosen every three years by the International Labour Conference; half of its 56 members are chosen by and from the govemment delegates, 14 by and from the workers' representatives and 14 by and from the employers' representatives. Of the 28 seats held by government delegates, ten are assigned to the ten member states designated - on the basis of criteria developed by a Committee of Experts - as "states of chief industrial importance".
The Intemational Labour Office, under its Director-General, is the permanent secretariat of the ILO.
The ILO's principal objective is the promotion and development, within member states, of policies inspired by ideals of social justice and aimed chiefly at improving the position of workers. Since the start, one of the organization's main policy tools has been the formulation of international labour standards which serve as a guideline and benchmark for governments in the area of social policy and labour legislation. These standards are included in some 160 conventions and 170 recommendations adopted by the ILO over the past 75 years.
Every country which ratifies a convention is required both to comply with its provisions and to prepare periodic reports on such; in addition the Intemational Labour Oftice receives written reports on the observance of conventions from national workers' and employers' organizations. A requirement to provide reports on observance may also exist in the case of non-ratified conventions and recommendations. The annual reports are examined from a legal standpoint by a Comrnittee of Experts. The comments of this Committee are examined by a special Conference Committee for final judgment. Neither of the supervisory bodies may impose sanctions of any kind though their conclusions are sometimes regarded as political or moral sanctions.

Number of countries having ratified selected ILO Conventions (as of 31.12.1993)

Conv. 87  (Freedom of association and right to organize): 109
Conv. 98  (Right to organize and collective bargaining): 123
Conv. 138  (Minimum age): 46
Conv. 111  (Discrimination in employment and occupation): 118
Conv. 100  (Equal remuneration): 120
Conv. 29  (Forced labour): 135
Conv. 105  (Abolition of forced labour): 112
Conv. 117  (Social Policy) (as of 1984): 29