GOVERNMENTS, WORKERS AND EMPLOYERS REPRESENTATIVES CONVENE

The 110th International Labour Conference 2022, was held in Geneva, Switzerland attracting over 3000 governments, workers and employers’ representatives from the International Labour Organization(ILO) member states, Ms. Jacqueline Mugo, Secretary-General of Business Africa Employers' Confederation (BUSINESSAfrica), Regional Vice-President for Africa, International Organizations for Employers (IOE) and Executive Director and CEO, Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE) represented Employers in Kenya and Africa at large.

Commonly referred to as the ‘International Parliament of Labour’, the conference is a forum where discussions on key social and labour matters, are openly discussed, critiqued and resolved. This year’s agenda focused on the below topics:

• Apprenticeships.
• Discussions on the strategic objective of employment under the follow-up to the ILO Declaration on social justice for a Fair Globalization.
• Decent work and the social and solidarity economy.
• Inclusion of safe and healthy working conditions in the ILO’s framework of fundamental principles and rights at work through an amendment to paragraph 2 of the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, 1998.
• Approval of amendments to the Code of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 adopted by the Special Tripartite Committee at the second part of its fourth meeting in May 2022.

In the recent past, there have been several global crises that have resulted in financial and economic challenges globally. The Russo-Ukrainian War, Monkey-Pox in Africa and COVID-19, to mention a few, are some of the crises that have affected the world. The International Labour Conference (ILC) arrived at a crucial time as the main objective of the ILC was to come up with international labour standards and policies for the ILO to ensure its member states are actively involved in the process and solutions are provided. This year, discussions on the Report on the economies of the Least Developed Countries and the Ukrainian crisis, and the reports of the Committee of Legal Experts on the conventions and recommendations of the International Labour Organization were held.

There were various plenary sessions on different issues including universal Social Protection to end child labour and the inclusion of safe and healthy working conditions in the ILO’s framework of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work which was implemented, for more information on this framework click on the link.

On 9th June 2022, during the International Labour Conference, in her capacity as an employer delegate, Ms Jacqueline Mugo issued a statement on the report of the ILO Director General, Mr Guy Rider, on the Least Developed Countries' crisis, structural transformation and the Future of Work, click on the links below to access the full report.

To watch the full video ILO Live - Plenary debates – Afternoon sitting or to read the full report click here.

















The following day on June 1Oth 2022, the President, Ms. Saida Neghza participated in the World of Work Summit: Tackling Multiple Global Crises, promoting human-centred recovery and resilience, as a panelist. She addressed the panel from the capacity of an employer. To watch the full video click here.

Through a decent work agenda, the ILO remains devoted to promoting social justice and advocates for internationally recognized human rights and labour rights. ILO has several upcoming events and activities running through the year, for more information on them, click on this link.