DUBAI // The International Labour Organization, established in 1919 by an American-led group of nine countries, has since expanded its membership to 183 countries.
Its 2,500 employees work in more than 40 countries, pursuing their mandate to promote labour standards around the world.
The founding members, who first defined that goal, had just survived World War I. They were determined to avoid a repeat of such a war by securing better conditions and opportunities for workers.
"Universal and lasting peace can be established only if it is based on social justice," it wrote in its constitution, which was incorporated into the Treaty of Versailles.
Over the decades, the ILO set out to define socially-just labour standards. Several of its conventions were incorporated into the national laws of countries, if not always in practice. These included the eight-hour working day and the 48-hour work week, the end of forced labour, the end of child labour and the establishment of a minimum working age, and equal pay for women and men.
When the United Nations was formed in 1945, the ILO became one of its sub-organisations and membership skyrocketed. In addition to formulating standards, it began to launch technical assistance programmes to help countries realise those standards.
It worked with governments, but also labourers and employers, to collect as much "real world" input as possible. It established an institute for labour studies and an international training centre, and became a clearinghouse for data and statistics about labour with publications such as the World Employment Report and the Yearbook of Labour Statistics.
It was awarded the Nobel Peace prize in 1969.
"If you desire peace, cultivate justice," said Aase Lionaes, the Nobel committee chairman, in his award speech, citing a motto enshrined at the ILO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
"There are few organisations that have succeeded to the extent that the ILO has in translating into action the fundamental moral idea on which it is based."
The ILO's first office in the Arab world opened in 1976, but only for seven years. It reopened in 1995 in Beirut, Lebanon. The ILO also has offices in Jerusalem and Kuwait.
In addition to the Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP) recently announced with the UAE, the ILO has partnered with five other Arab countries - Jordan, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain and Oman - on DWCPs.
AN IMPRESSIVE LIST OF GOALS
The Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP), which will be rolled out here between 2011 and 2016, will include work on these elements:
- The drafting and development of policies and regulations for a more diversified labour market that reduces the UAE's dependency on unskilled labour and achieves a more knowledgeable labour market.
- The development of a labour market information system to enable government to make informed decisions based on facts when drafting policies.
- Emiratisation in the private sector, particularly for Emirati women.
- Exploring legislation for part-time employment and job-sharing to create more work opportunities.
- Considering the creation of subsidies for private companies that recruit Emiratis with minimal work experience and allow them to grow within the company.
- Reviewing ways to incorporate or give voice to professional worker's associations at a government level to allow them to participate in legislative decision-making that affects them. - Wafa Issa