Page 13 - IGC BOOK

The Functions of the ILO

The ILO has four principal strategic objectives:

1. To promote and realise standards, and fundamental principles and rights at work:

2. To create greater opportunities for women and men to secure decent employment:

3. To enhance the coverage and effectiveness of social protection for all:

4. To strengthen triparty and social dialogue.
These objectives are realised in a number of ways:

▪ Formulation of international policies and programmes to
promote basic human rights, improve working and living
conditions, and enhance employment opportunities.

▪ Creation of international labour standards – backed by a
unique system to supervise their application – to serve as
guidelines for national authorities in putting these policies into action.

▪ An extensive programme of international technical co-operation formulated and
implemented in an active partnership with constituents, to help countries in making these
policies effective in practice.

▪ Training, education, research, and publishing activities to help advance all these efforts.
International Labour Standards - Conventions and Recommendations

International labour standards are legal instruments drawn up by the ILO's constituents and
setting out basic principles and rights at work. They are either ‘conventions,’ which are legally
binding international treaties that may be ratified by member states, or ‘recommendations,’
which serve as non-binding guidelines.

In many cases, a convention lays down the basic principles to be implemented by ratifying
countries, while a related recommendation supplements the convention by providing more
detailed guidelines on how it could be applied. Recommendations can also be self-governing, i.e.
not linked to any convention.

Conventions and recommendations are drawn up by representatives of governments, employers
and workers and are adopted at the ILO's annual International Labour Conference. Once a
standard is adopted, member states are required under the ILO Constitution to submit them to
their competent authority (normally the parliament) for consideration. In the case of
conventions, this means consideration for ratification.

If it is ratified, a convention generally comes into force for that country one year after the date of
ratification. Ratifying countries commit themselves to applying the convention in national law
and practice and reporting on its application at regular intervals.

ENSIGN| Unit IG1 – Element 1 – Why We Should Manage Workplace Health and 5
Safety