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Labour Minister, Mildred Oliphant will lead a South African delegation to the 107th session of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva, Switzerland a city that lies at the southern tip of Lake Geneva.

The delegation, which will include the Department of Labour’s Director-General, Thobile Lamati will also include the Department’s officials and other tripartite members of Nedlac (business and Labour).

This year’s session will be held under the theme: “Building a future with decent work”.   

The agenda of the 107th Session of the Conference, as approved by the Governing Body of the ILO, consists of the following three standing items and four technical items.

Standing items

• Reports of the Chairperson of the Governing Body and of the Director-General
• Programme and budget and other questions
• Information and reports on the application of Conventions and Recommendations
   

Technical items placed on the agenda by the Governing Body

• Effective ILO development cooperation in support of the Sustainable Development Goals 
• Violence and harassment against women and men in the world of work         
• A recurrent discussion on the strategic objective of social dialogue and tripartism, under the follow-up to the ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization, 2008
• Abrogation of Conventions Nos 21, 50, 64, 65, 86 and 104 and withdrawal of Recommendations Nos 7, 61 and 62 (The nine international labour instruments concerned are: the Inspection of Emigrants Convention, 1926 (No. 21); the Recruiting of Indigenous Workers Convention, 1936 (No. 50); the Contracts of Employment (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1939 (No. 64); the Penal Sanctions (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1939 (No. 65); the Contracts of Employment (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1947 (No. 86); the Abolition of Penal Sanctions (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1955 (No. 104); the Hours of Work (Fishing) Recommendation, 1920 (No. 7); the Migration for Employment Recommendation, 1939 (No. 61); and the Migration for Employment (Co-operation between States) Recommendation, 1939 (No. 62).

As is the norm, the Director-General of the International Labour Organisation Guy Ryder will present his Report to the Conference during the opening sitting. This year’s report will address the theme of women at work, one of the ILO’s Centenary Initiatives.

The International Labour Conference is the ILO’s highest decision-making body. It meets annually, bringing together the tripartite delegations from the Organisation’s 187 member States and a number of observers from other international actors to consider a series of topics related to the world of work, placed on its agenda by the Governing Body of the ILO. The Conference is composed of a plenary and technical committees.

Conference committees meet concurrently with the plenary.

South Africa as a member of the ILO continues to play a leading role in ensuring the development of common regional positions whilst also influencing the outcomes of deliberations within the organisation. The ILC is a forum where global decisions are made with regards to labour market developments.

The 107th  Session of the International Labour Conference will be held from 28 May to 8 June 2018 in Geneva, in two locations, the Palais des Nations and the ILO headquarters.

This year’s conference comes ahead of the celebrations of the centenary session that will be held in June 2019. -ENDS-

Issued by Department of Labour