H.E. Minister of Labor and Social Development (MLSD) Dr. Ali bin Nasser Al-Ghafis heads the Kingdom’s tripartite delegation (government officials, representatives of employers and workers) to the 106th Session of the International Labor Conference in Geneva, which will be held on 5-16 June.
With titled ‘Building a future with decent work’, government members, employers and workers representing 187 member states will take part in plenary and technical committees that draft reports and conclusions and forward them to the plenary for adoption.
On the sidelines of the conference, the Saudi delegation will meet with representatives from state members, labor ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for the Arab States, nonalignment movement, Asia Pacific countries and G20.
Meanwhile, the high-ranking Saudi delegates will also participate in the Palestine Solidarity Forum and Coordination Meeting of GCC Labor Ministers to agree on priorities and points of discussion before they represent them at the ILC.
The participants would discuss Reports of the Chairperson of the Governing Body and of the Director General titled ‘Work in a changing climate: The Green Initiative’.
The conference’s program and budget proposals for 2018–19 will be up for discussion, in addition to exploring the Report of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations.
The participating delegations will be engaged in discussion regarding labor migration, employment and decent work for peace and resilience, a recurrent discussion on the strategic objective of fundamental principles and rights at work, under the follow-up to the ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization, 2008.
The ministry’s participation comes within Saudi Vision 2030 aiming to enhance international relations and benefit from international experiences in order to generate decent job opportunities, reduce unemployment rates, increase women in the workforce, support small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) and raise the contribution of the nonprofit sector.
At the top of ILC agenda, The World of Work Summit will be held to shed light this year on the ILO’s Women at Work Centenary Initiative, which seeks to identify the impediments to faster progress on gender equality and women’s empowerment and to promote remedial action.
Additionally, the tripartite groups will also take part in the Future of Work Centenary Initiative that presents an important step to gain greater understanding of the changes through international labor markets by applying work and society, decent jobs for all, the organization of work and production and the governance of work.
It is noteworthy that the Kingdom joined the International Labor Organization in 1976 and endorsed its first agreement out of 16 ILO agreements in 1978. The Kingdom participation comes within its continued efforts to express its opinions over international labor issues, enhance international and bilateral relations and activate its effective role and impact on the international community.