LABOUR migration and employment strategies, strengthening ILO Convention 29 on forced labour, and facilitating transitions from the informal to the formal economy are the priority items on the agenda of the 103rd Session of the International Labour Conference, which got underway earlier this week in  Geneva, Switzerland.The Conference is being attended by worker, employer and government delegates from the ILO’s 185 member States. It is expected to focus on ‘Building a future with decent work’.

Guyana’s delegation is being led by Labour Minister Dr. Nanda K. Gopaul and Chief Labour Officer, Mr. Charles Ogle. Representing local workers is Mr. Seepaul Narine, Treasurer of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions, while the employers’ delegate is Ms. Jerry Goolsarran, Consultant to the Consultative Association of Guyanese Industries (CAGI).
The International Labour Conference, among other things, is responsible for supervision of the application of Conventions and Recommendations at the national level. It examines the reports which the governments of all member States are required to submit, detailing their compliance with obligations arising out of ratified Conventions.
It is also the body that crafts and adopts international labour standards in the form of Conventions and Recommendations. The Conference is also a forum where social and labour questions of importance are discussed and every two years the Conference adopts the ILO’s biennial work programme and budget, which is financed by member States.
Since the adoption of the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (1998), another important function of the Conference is to examine the Global Report covering the four fundamental rights, namely: (a) freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining; (b) the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour; (c) the effective abolition of child labour; and (d) the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation. The Conference concludes on June 12, 2014.