What Is the International Labour Organization (ILO)?

What Is the International Labour Organization (ILO)?

Let me explain what the International Labour Organization, or ILO, really is. It's a United Nations agency with the straightforward goal of advancing social and economic justice by setting international labor standards. The ILO includes 187 member states, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and operates about 40 field offices worldwide. These standards are designed to ensure that work everywhere is accessible, productive, and sustainable, all under conditions of freedom, equity, security, and dignity.

Key Takeaways

You should know that the ILO functions as a UN agency. Its primary aim is to push forward social and economic justice through international labor standards. Also, the ILO's conventions and protocols play a major role in shaping international labor law.

Understanding the ILO

The ILO was established in 1919 under the League of Nations and became a specialized UN agency in 1946, making it the first and oldest of its kind. I see it as a uniting force among governments, businesses, and workers, stressing that employees must have freedom, equity, security, and dignity in their jobs.

Through its field offices in regions like Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Arab States, Asia and the Pacific, and Europe and Central Asia, the ILO promotes these standards. It offers training on fair employment, provides technical cooperation for projects in partner countries, analyzes labor statistics, publishes research, and holds events and conferences on key social and labor issues. In 1969, the ILO received the Nobel Peace Prize for fostering peace among nations, pursuing decent work and justice for workers, and aiding developing nations.

The ILO has issued 190 conventions and six protocols that form its labor standards. These recognize rights like collective bargaining, aim to end forced or compulsory labor and child labor, and eliminate discrimination in employment. Consequently, these documents are a cornerstone of international labor law.

Structurally, the ILO is tripartite, involving governments, employers, and workers. Its main bodies are the International Labour Conference, which meets yearly to set standards; the Governing Body, meeting three times a year to handle executive decisions, policy, and budget; and the International Labour Office, the permanent secretariat that runs operations and activities.

ILO List of International Labor Standards

These standards are legal instruments developed by governments, employers, and workers to establish basic principles and rights at work. They come as conventions or protocols, which are binding treaties ratified by member states, or as nonbinding recommendations. Conventions are adopted at the annual International Labour Conference and then ratified by national governing bodies.

ILO Programs

The ILO has organized its technical projects into five flagship programs to boost the efficiency and impact of its global development cooperation.

BetterWork

This program focuses on improving conditions in garment and footwear factories, run jointly with the World Bank Group's International Finance Corporation. It aims for lasting improvements, operating in eight countries across three continents, involving 1,250 factories and over 1.5 million workers. The goal is to show that safe, dignified work leads to more productive factories and a profitable model benefiting everyone involved.

Global Flagship Programme on Building Social Protection Floors (SPFs) for All

Launched in 2016, this program's long-term aim is to extend social protection to the five billion people who lack it or have partial coverage. With 73% of the world's population without social protection, causing daily anxiety for billions, the ILO seeks to build nationally appropriate systems, including floors, supporting governments, workers, employers, and civil society in 21 countries alongside other UN agencies. Its initial goal was to impact 130 million lives by 2020 through comprehensive systems and education campaigns, though updates on achievement are unclear as of April 2021. It now incorporates COVID-19 responses to protect workers.

International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour and Forced Labour (IPEC+)

Addressing 152 million children in child labor, 40 million in modern slavery, 24.9 million in forced labor, and 15.4 million in forced marriages, this program combines prior efforts to end these issues. It works with governments, employers, and workers to strengthen capacities, encourage cooperation, and expand knowledge. Targets include eliminating child labor by 2025 and forced labor and trafficking by 2030, aligning with the UN's 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

Safety + Health for All

Formerly the Global Action for Prevention on Occupational Safety and Health, this 2016 program improves worker health and safety in small and medium enterprises by promoting a prevention culture. Active in 15 countries and globally, it tackles 2.78 million annual work-related deaths and 374 million nonfatal injuries, which cost nearly 4% of global GDP in lost workdays. It targets hazardous sectors like agriculture and construction, vulnerable groups such as young workers, women, and migrants, plus small enterprises and supply chains. With COVID-19, it provides interventions for immediate and long-term safety needs.

Jobs for Peace and Resilience

This program creates jobs in conflict and disaster-affected countries, emphasizing youth and women. Through institution-building, social dialogue, and rights at work, it provides direct job creation, income security, skills enhancement, support for self-employment and cooperatives, and bridges labor supply and demand.

The Future of the International Labour Organization (ILO)

In 2019, the ILO held the Global Commission on the Future of Work, with dialogues in about 110 countries. The report recommended universal labor guarantees, social protection from birth to old age, and lifelong learning for 21st-century challenges. Additionally, the ILO evaluated green economy transitions, noting that with proper policies, this could generate 24 million new jobs worldwide by 2030.