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International Labour Conference ends session that focused on decent work deficit

International Labour Conference ends session that focused on decent work deficit

In an effort to forge a new path from "vision to policy" in the world of work, the United Nations International Labour Conference today concluded its session in Geneva following a spirited debate by workers, employers and governments on how to address the lack of decent jobs worldwide.

Summing up the debate on his report Reducing the Decent Work Deficit, the Director-General of the UN International Labour Organization (ILO), Juan Somavia, said, "If this Conference has a single message, it is that all of us together must now move the decent work agenda from aspiration to action, from design to implementation, from a vision to a policy."

In addition to the wide-ranging debate on reducing the decent work deficit, delegates approved the first-ever labour standard on agricultural safety and health, which aims to protect the world's 1.3 billion agricultural workers. The new International Convention on Health and Safety in Agriculture will enter into force once ratified by two ILO member States.

In another action, the Conference decided to send a high-level team to Myanmar to conduct an objective assessment of the situation in that country, which has been repeatedly condemned for its widespread use of forced labour. The Conference also discussed labour practices in a number of different States, and examined the Director-General's report on the condition of workers in the Occupied Arab Territories.

In a bid to bolster the international effort to eliminate child labour, the Conference adopted a new initiative aimed at greatly accelerating the removal of millions of children from the most abusive forms of work in three States - Tanzania, Nepal and El Salvador - in the next 10 years.

The Conference, which began on 5 June, brings together ministers of labour, employers and workers in the ILO's 175 member States.