From Bimbola Oyesola, Geneva, Switzerland
The International Labour Organization (ILO) has warned member countries including Nigeria against jeopardizing recent advancement recorded in the world of work.
World of work refers to an all-age service, designed to help build one’s carrer management skills and discover what careers match one’s skills.
ILO Director General Gilbert Houngbo warns that multiple crises could jeopardize recent advances in the world of work.
The Director General stressed the need for more social justice at the opening session of the 112th International Labour Conference, in Geneva.
Houngbo expressed a feeling of “ambivalence” at the current state of the world of work.
He said: “All regions, to varying degrees, have returned to the level of economic activity seen in the pre-pandemic period. Effective action by central banks to curb inflation has also contributed to this positive development.
“This could, I very much hope, provide some relief for the recently battered purchasing power of workers,” said Houngbo in his opening address.
Houngbo recalled that ILO projections indicate a global unemployment rate of 4.9 percent for both 2024 and 2025, marking a modest decrease from the 5 percent recorded in 2023.
However, he warned that, “crises that keep coming one after the other,” could jeopardize these “positive and encouraging advances.”
“At the same time, the sources of tension have intensified. The appalling situation in the Middle East has added to the existing crises. The shocking conflicts in Gaza, Yemen, Sudan, Haiti, Ukraine and the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, to name but a few, remain major issues for humanity and, more particularly, for multilateralism,” he added.
Presenting his report, ‘Towards a Renewed Social Contract’, the Director-General said, “the report does not impose preconceived ideas but aims to stimulate a productive and fruitful debate” about “making social justice the foundation of lasting peace, shared prosperity, equal opportunities, and a just transition.”
The ILO annual conference brings together worker, employer, and government delegates from the ILO’s 187 Member States to address a wide range of issues that have a long-term impact on the world of work. The agenda includes:
a discussion on protection against biological hazards (first discussion out of the two foreseen in the ILO’s standard-setting procedure), which could lead to the adoption of an international labour standard on the subject at next year’s ILC.
a discussion on the strategic objective of fundamental principles and rights at work.
a discussion on decent work and the care economy.
The inaugural Forum of the Global Coalition for Social Justice will take place on 13 June. Supported by 280 partners, including 68 governments, the forum will highlight the concrete collaborative efforts in favour of social justice made since the 111th Session of the International Labour Conference in June last year.