The International Labour Organization (ILO) is deeply saddened by the death of former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali. Mr. Boutros-Ghali led the United Nations admirably at a turbulent and challenging time in world history from 1992 to 1997.

ILO Director-General Guy Ryder said that Boutros-Ghali was “not only a diplomat, jurist, scholar and widely published author” but will also be remembered “for his unwavering belief in international diplomacy and his commitment to the United Nations’ ideal to create a peaceful, secure, and just world”.

Over four decades, Mr. Boutros-Ghali engaged with issues of international law, human rights, economic and social development, decolonization, the Middle East question, international humanitarian law, the rights of ethnic and other minorities, non-alignment, development in the Mediterranean region and Afro-Arab cooperation.

From 1970 to 1979, he was a member of the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, which is widely considered as the cornerstone of the ILO's standards supervisory system. He was the first Egyptian national to be named on this prestigious body, composed of eminent jurists appointed for their impartiality, competence and independence.

On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the ILO, Boutros-Ghali wrote these prophetic words: “Today social underdevelopment is an insult to the idea we hold of international justice, and the unrest it could engender is truly a menace to the peace and stability of the world. Consequently, there is a pressing need to meet these challenges. In order to do so, continuing and growing cooperation between the International Labour Organization and the United Nations is a sine qua non.”

More than ever, the ILO stands ready to support this cooperation.