From 3 April to 6 May, an exhibition "International Labour Organization: 95 years working for social justice" dedicated to the anniversary of the establishment runs in the Official Documents Reading Room (room 207).

The International Labour Organization (ILO) was created on 11 April, 1919 at the League of Nations in accordance with Part 13 of the Versailles Treaty which signing ended the First World War. It was the first intergovernmental organization established to develop conventions and recommendations on labour legislation, to promote economic and social progress, to improve human well-being and to protect human rights.

The origins of the ILO were a need to meet demands of the international labor movement on social justice and improving lives of workers. In 1946, after the collapse of the League of Nations, the ILO became the first specialized agency of the UN.

Goals and objectives of the ILO proclaimed in its Statute. The main objectives of the ILO are:

development of coherent policies and programs aimed at addressing social and labor problems;
adoption of international labor standards in the form of Conventions and Recommendations, and monitor their implementation;
assist member countries in addressing social and labor problems;
protection of human rights (on work, freedom of association, collective negotiations, from forced labor, discrimination, etc.);
research and publications on the implementation of social and labor issues.

The main ILO’s feature is that it works on the basis of tripartism when employers and workers in joint unions have in it equal voice with the government in the creation of policies and programs of the organization.

The ILO’s supreme body is the International Labour Conference which is convened once a year. The conference discusses and accepts international standards in the field of social and labor, discusses issues of global importance. The ILO’s Executive Body is an administrative board which directs the work of the organization between sessions of the conference and determines the order of execution of its decisions. The International Labour Office performs the functions of the ILO’s Secretariat. The International Institute for Labour Studies (Geneva) and the International Training Centre (Turin) work on the base of the ILO.

The organization develops and adopts international instruments on social and labor issues in the form of conventions, protocols and recommendations, monitors their practical application. Since 1919, there have been adopted 188 conventions which are equal to the status of international treaties. In addition, the ILO publishes a number of periodicals, publishes thematic monographs, studies and statistical compilations.

The ILO is one of the oldest and largest international organizations: 185 states are its members.

Belarus has been a member of the ILO since 1954. Our country ratified its 49 conventions, including 8 principle conventions. Belarus actively participates in regulatory work, the development and implementation of programs and projects of the organization at the national level.

The exhibition contains more than 100 documents in Russian and English languages. Most of the exposition consists of the ILO’s documents: books, pamphlets, mimeographed materials, periodicals and booklets.

The exhibition consists of the following themes:

ILO’s history, its main goals and objectives.
Rulemaking, the ILO’s Conventions and Recommendations.
ILO’s Technical Cooperation Programmes.
Training, education, research and publications of the ILO.
Cooperation between the ILO and Belarus.

The exhibition is designed for professionals in the field of international law and labor law, labor economics and social relations managers and specialists of public authorities and trade unions, as well as for graduate students and researchers.

Useful links

Documents

International Labour Organization: 95 years working for social justice

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