GB.270/8/1 - Governing Body

1. The Programme, Financial and Administrative Committee of the Governing Body met on 12 November 1997 under the chairmanship of Mr. A.A. El Amawy, Chairman of the Governing Body. Mr. U. Kalbitzer (Government, Germany) was the Reporter.

Programme and Budget for 1996-97
(First item on the agenda)

Regular budget account and Working Capital Fund

2. The Committee had before it a paper⁽²⁾ containing information on the 1996-97 regular budget account and the position of the Working Capital Fund as at 31 October 1997.

3. The representative of the Director-General (the Treasurer and Financial Comptroller) reported that, since the preparation of the Office paper, Mexico had paid its full 1997 contribution of 2,619,253 Swiss francs, while both Malta and Mauritius had already paid in advance their full contributions for 1998.

4. Mr. Oechslin, on behalf of the Employer members, expressed appreciation for the Office paper and the supplementary information from the Treasurer.

5. Mr. Gray, on behalf of the Worker members, was concerned to see that at 31 October 1997 there was an excess of income over expenditure of just over $100 million, and asked to what extent it resulted from the non-implementation of programmes. It was also worrying to see that contributions outstanding at the same date were almost 257 million Swiss francs, and member States should make greater efforts to pay their outstanding contributions as soon as possible. It was even more regrettable that 32 member States had lost the right to vote and the Workers would give full support to any moves that could be taken to improve this situation. He expressed support for the point for decision but asked for an assurance that no major transfers were expected.

6. Mr. Marshall, for the Employers, supported the request for further information concerning the excess of income over expenditure of $100 million at 31 October. The timing of expenditure recording was obviously important and it would be useful to have a comparison of actual expenditure against budget at the reporting date, together with a forecast to the end of the biennium.

7. The Treasurer recalled that the Office had worked under severe financial constraints in recent biennia, with uncertainty over both the amount and timing of contributions receipts persisting even to the last few weeks of the biennium, and it was for this reason that the Office had been unable to forecast actual expenditure levels even towards the end of a financial period. It would be possible to make projections under circumstances where the full funding of the budget was assured but even then it would be difficult to do so in the early stages of a biennium.

8. There were two reasons for the excess of income over expenditure of $100 million at 31 October. The first was that the level of arrears of contributions received, amounting to just over $116 million in the biennium so far, had been much higher than in the past. This figure represented approximately 20 per cent of the 1996-97 budget, compared with just over 13 per cent at a comparable date in the previous biennium. The second reason was reduced budgetary expenditure for 1996-97. At present, projected expenditure for the whole of the biennium amounted to roughly $517 million, about $63 million less than the original approved budget. Of that figure, programme reductions amounting to $21.7 million had been agreed by the Governing Body in November 1995, and the 1997 Conference decided to transfer the equivalent of this amount to the budget of income for the 1998-99 biennium. Of the remaining $41 million of underspending, some $24 million resulted from salary and post adjustment freezes for Geneva staff and had no impact on programme delivery. The balance of $17 million was the best estimate of programme underspending to the end of the biennium, and was based on the judgement of the Financial Services without consultation with programme managers.

9. The Committee recommends that the Governing Body authorize the Director-General to submit proposals for any necessary transfers within the 1996-97 expenditure budget to the Chairperson for his approval, in accordance with the usual practice, prior to the closing of the 1996-97 accounts in January 1998 and subject to confirmation of such approval by the Governing Body at its 271st Session (March 1998).

Voluntary contributions and gifts
(Second item on the agenda)

10. The Committee had before it a paper⁽³⁾ giving details of voluntary contributions and gifts accepted by the Director-General since November 1995.

11. Mr. Gray expressed the Workers' appreciation to those who had given donations, and particularly for the substantial donation from the Japanese Trade Union Confederation towards the cost of the meeting on Workers' Benefits from Productivity Improvements held recently in Harare. He hoped that others would emulate the example of the ILO's Japanese constituents.

12. The Committee took note of the Office paper.

Financial questions relating to the
International Institute for Labour Studies
(Third item on the agenda)

13. The Committee had before it a paper⁽⁴⁾ outlining the Programme and Budget proposals of the International Institute for Labour Studies for 1998-99, and a paper⁽⁵⁾ describing the contributions and gifts received by the Institute.

14. The Chairman stated that these papers were for the information of the Committee at this stage, and would be discussed once a paper was available from the Board of the Institute containing its recommendations on these matters.

International Training Centre of the ILO, Turin
(Fourth item on the agenda)

15. The Committee had before it the documents submitted to the 59th Session of the Board of the Centre⁽⁶⁾ together with the report of the session.⁽⁷⁾

16. Ms. Sasso-Mazzufferi, on behalf of the Employer members, said that the Board of the Centre had held positive and constructive discussions on the documents submitted to it, and she drew attention to paragraphs 8, 12, 14, 19 and 22 of the report of the Centre, where Employer members had expressed their views on activities concerning their particular regions. Financially, the Centre was in good health and the accounts showed a small surplus for 1996. It was showing steady growth, with activities expanding and the number of participants increasing. The Centre now had an international presence and this was reflected in the increasing percentage of income generated by fees. The Employers particularly supported activities concerning the generation of employment in small and medium-sized enterprises, also the development plans concerning the retraining of staff and the wider use of modern training technologies. They expressed full support also for the point for decision.

17. Mr. Agyei, on behalf of the Worker members, also expressed appreciation for the quality of the documents submitted to the Board of the Centre. Results for the last year were most satisfactory, but it was important to ensure that the Centre continued to offer opportunities for Government, Employer and Worker representatives to meet and exchange views on matters of common interest. From the documents it was clear that Europe had become the main beneficiary of the Centre's activities, so efforts should be made to attract participants from the other regions and to reach a fairer balance between field activities and programmes run at the Centre. There was room for more bipartite and tripartite programmes in which senior trade union officials could participate, and there should be more representation by workers generally in programmes run by the staff college. It was gratifying to see the general support by member States for the activities of the Turin Centre but it would be useful as well to consider ways in which resources could be mobilized to run programmes in the poorer countries of Latin America and Asia. Having expressed these views the Workers reiterated their full support for the activities of the Turin Centre and for the point for decision.

18. The representative of the Government of France said that the Turin Centre Board meeting the previous week had been one of the most productive ever. The documentation supplied to Board members was clear, comprehensive and easy to understand. Members had expressed solid support for the development programmes and it was gratifying to see that fee income constituted a growing percentage of the Centre's total revenue. He expressed particular appreciation for the continuing support of the Italian Government and the people of Turin for the work of the Centre. The development plan described in the documents reflected the changes that were already taking place in training technology and the Centre should make every effort to keep abreast of these developments.

19. The representative of the Government of Italy said that his country would continue to give the Centre its full support. It was gratifying to see that the value of the work carried out by the Centre was widely acknowledged, and that the municipality of Turin and the region of Piedmont had increased their support for the Centre.

20. Mr. Anand, an Employer member, expressed strong support for the work of the Turin Centre, which had played a key role in furthering the aims and objectives of the ILO. However, it was becoming clear that one Turin Centre was not enough. Its programmes were of the highest quality and were attracting participants from around the world. The next move for the ILO and the Turin Centre should be to look at ways of developing networks throughout the regions so that the Centre's programmes were available to a wider population.

21. The representative of the Government of Chile agreed that the meeting of the Turin Centre Board had been most productive. The Director and staff of the Centre deserved congratulations for what they had achieved and the ILO should be proud of what it was doing now. He agreed with earlier remarks that more activities could perhaps be directed towards the regions, particularly Latin America and Asia.

22. The Committee recommends that the Governing Body take note of the decision by the Board of the Centre to approve the proposals and the investment plan and its financing mechanisms, as set out in document CC59/5.⁽⁸⁾

Proposed 1998-99 budgets for extra-budgetary accounts
(Fifth item on the agenda)

International Occupational Safety and Health
Information Centre (CIS)

23. The Committee had before it a paper⁽⁹⁾ containing a proposed budget for 1998-99 for this extra-budgetary account.

24. Mr. Gray expressed the Workers' support for the point for decision.

25. The Committee recommends that the Governing Body approve the proposed 1998-99 income and expenditure budget for the International Occupational Safety and Health Information Centre extra-budgetary account.

Inter-American Research and Documentation
Centre on Vocational Training (CINTERFOR)

26. The Committee had before it a paper⁽¹⁰⁾ containing a proposed 1998-99 budget for this extra-budgetary account.

27. Mr. Gray, for the Worker members, expressed support for the point for decision but asked why the budget for 1998-99 for sales of publications was so far below the actual sales expected for the current biennium.

28. A representative of the Director-General (the Chief of the Training Policies and Systems Branch) explained that this revenue was derived mainly from the sale of ILO publications and much of this was now being handled by the area offices rather than CINTERFOR.

29. Mr. Varela, an Employer member, expressed appreciation for the work carried out by Ms. Ducci, in support of CINTERFOR activities. CINTERFOR had already done a great deal of valuable work in the Latin American region and its role had been further strengthened as a result of a meeting held recently in Santiago, Chile. It was regrettable therefore that the ability of Employer and Worker representatives to attend CINTERFOR meetings was being affected by adverse exchange rate movements between the local currency and the US dollar. CINTERFOR meetings had to be fully tripartite so the Office should ensure that full resources were available for Employer and Worker representatives to attend.

30. The representative of the Government of Chile fully endorsed the remarks of the previous speaker.

31. The Committee recommends that the Governing Body approve the income and expenditure estimates for 1998-99 of the Inter-American Research and Documentation Centre on Vocational Training (CINTERFOR) extra-budgetary account.

Amendments to the Financial Rules
(Sixth item on the agenda)

32. The Committee had before it a paper⁽¹¹⁾ describing certain amendments proposed to the Financial Rules of the ILO.

33. Mr. Marshall said that the Employers regarded the proposed amendments as a step in the right direction and would support the point for decision. However, in addition to the procedure proposed, when a decision was taken to write off a loss it would be appropriate for a report to be submitted through this Committee to the Governing Body setting out the amount written off and the reason for it, to ensure that the Governing Body was kept informed of these matters. The Employers were also interested to know whether there was an ILO policy about the external reporting of fraud-related issues for the purpose of investigation and possible initiation of criminal charges.

34. The representative of the Government of the United States wished to propose an amendment to the Office paper. It would have to be translated and distributed in the three languages and he asked for guidance on how it should be introduced.

35. The Treasurer, responding to an invitation from the Chairman, explained that it was for the Committee itself to decide. Given that the proposed amendments would have to be carefully examined by the Committee, there were two ways to proceed. The first would be to postpone discussion for a few hours until after the document had been translated into the three languages and printed, and then discussed in group sessions. The second would be to continue now with discussion on the document put forward by the Director-General and to consider the proposed amendments at the next session of the Governing Body.

36. The representative of the Government of Germany observed that the proposed amendment put forward by the United States Government representative was not merely editorial, and to approve the Office paper today and the proposed amendment at the next Governing Body session would be to take two quite different decisions. For this Committee to decide now that a Committee on Accountability should be established and then decide something else in four months' time would be inconsistent to say the least. On the other hand there was something to be said for postponing discussion because the groups should have the opportunity for full consultations on the proposed amendment before the matter was discussed in this Committee.

37. The Office paper was proposing a new Committee on Accountability to replace the Property Survey Committee. It would be useful to have more information about the composition of this proposed new Committee, in particular whether it would be made up solely of ILO officials or include people from outside. Although some questions remained to be answered he expressed support for the general principle of making officials more responsible for their conduct.

38. Mr. Gray said that the Workers had expressed their concern at a previous session of the Governing Body about the impact on staff in the field of uncertainty and delays as the Office finances were decentralized. For similar reasons the Workers would prefer to decide this issue as soon as the proposed amendment could be translated and printed.

39. The representative of the Government of Japan believed that the amendment proposed by the United States Government representative contained some very important elements and should be translated and printed immediately so that the Committee could give it the earliest possible consideration.

40. The Treasurer, replying to the Employer members' request that the Governing Body should be informed of any write-offs, stated that write-offs were systematically reported to the External Auditor who subsequently included them in the audited statements to the Governing Body and to the Conference. Replying to the statement by the representative of the Government of Germany, he said that the mandate of the present Committee, the Property Survey Committee, was too limited because it was competent only to address issues where loss of property had occurred. It did not have the authority to investigate attempted fraud, that is unsuccessful fraud, because no loss had taken place. The new Committee would have a wider mandate and would be composed of the Director of the Financial Services Department, who would act as chairman, and representatives from the Legal Adviser's Office and the Personnel Department. It would be an entirely internal Committee and its membership would not include non-ILO officials.

41. Referring to the question raised by the Employer members concerning the reporting of offences to external authorities, the Treasurer recalled that criminal prosecutions had been made in the past where circumstances warranted such action; but the decision to prosecute or not depended not only on the size of the fraud but also on a host of other considerations. Fortunately frauds had been rare and involved relatively small amounts. The last major fraud in the ILO was in 1982-83, in the field, where misappropriations amounted to $350,000. In view of the very serious nature of the case, the offender was prosecuted and subsequently imprisoned. The ILO's approach to issues of fraud was pragmatic and small frauds would normally not be prosecuted. However, the situation in the case of large-scale fraud was more complex, not only because the ILO operated worldwide but also because criminal justice systems differed from country to country and in order to prosecute the Organization needed to waive its own immunity. For these reasons it was impossible to lay down a general rule and decisions whether or not to prosecute were taken by the Director-General on a case-by-case basis.

42. Mr. Marshall, on behalf of the Employer members, thought it would be more appropriate to discuss the amendment proposed by the United States Government, which concerned changes of substance and not just editorial changes, immediately after it had been translated and considered by the various groups.

43. The representative of the Government of the United States, explaining the rationale for the amendment, said that it shared the desire of the Office to deal in a credible and effective way with any potential or actual cases of fraud. It was a question of principle and did not imply that fraud was a serious problem within the Organization. The amendment reflected a concern with how best to deal with suspected fraud and there was no intention of delegating the responsibilities of management, in this case those of the Treasurer, to another official. The proposed amendment reflected the general principle that it would be better for an independent official to investigate and determine whether or not an actual case of fraud or malfeasance had occurred. It did not propose that the Internal Auditor take action; only that he submit a report to the disciplinary unit within the Office and that the Director-General subsequently decide what action should be taken.

44. The Committee agreed to postpone further discussion of this item until after the proposed amendment had been translated and printed and examined by the groups. The resumed discussion is included below for the sake of completeness.

45. Mr. Marshall, speaking for the Employer members, suggested that the proposed amendment to the sixth item on the agenda (document GB.270/PFA/D.1) would only lead to more confusion because it mixed issues of financial regulation with normal management processes. The responsibility for ensuring internal accountability within the Office must remain with the Director-General, and through his delegation of authority, with the Treasurer and Financial Comptroller. A consultative relationship between the Office Committee on Accountability and the Internal Auditor would certainly be appropriate, but this issue would need to be discussed further. He recommended the adoption of the original text proposed by the Office.

46. Mr. Gray, speaking for the Worker members, supported the views expressed by Mr. Marshall. It would be appropriate for the Internal Auditor to be included in the Committee and he proposed the adoption of the original text presented by the Office.

47. The Committee recommends that the Governing Body approve the amendments to the Financial Rules set out in the appendix to this report.

Report of the Building Subcommittee
(Seventh item on the agenda)

48. The Committee had before it a report of its Building Subcommittee⁽¹²⁾ describing progress on the extension of the ILO Regional Office in Abidjan and on the construction of the ILO's premises in Islamabad.

49. Mr. Chotard, Chairman of the Building Subcommittee, reported that a mission had been sent to Abidjan in May 1997 and minor modifications had been made to contracts for the extension of the ILO Regional Office. Since then, the work had been closely monitored and the contract was still expected to be completed by the end of 1997.

50. The problems concerning the construction of the ILO premises in Islamabad were not so straightforward. Relations between the architect and the construction company had been difficult but had improved recently. The premises, constructed on land given by the Government of Pakistan, comprised an office building and a conference hall. Numerous requests had already been received for the hire of the conference hall and this would clearly be an important source of revenue. Although the new office would not be completed by the end the year the ILO Office would move at that date because of the expiry of the lease on its current premises. It was hoped that the conference hall would be ready by April 1998.

51. Mr. Kikongi Di Mwinsa, a Worker member, confirmed that the problems concerning the premises in Islamabad had caused delays but pressure had been put on the construction company to complete part of the building so that the staff could move in. The construction work would probably not be completed before April 1998, and the installation of air-conditioning about two months later, so it was impossible to give a precise date for the final completion of the project.

52. Mr. Marshall, for the Employer members, was pleased to see that work was progressing steadily on both projects, and thanked the Chairperson and members of the Subcommittee for their efforts to this end.

53. The representative of the Government of Panama congratulated the Building Subcommittee and especially Mr. Chotard on efforts to ensure the timely completion of the two buildings.

54. The representative of the Government of Pakistan expressed appreciation for the work of the Subcommittee. As indicated by Mr. Chotard, technical problems such as the underground water pockets had led to delays on the Islamabad project, but these had been overcome. The Government of Pakistan had been pleased to donate the land for the new ILO office, which it regarded as an important landmark in Islamabad. The fact that numerous requests had already been received for the use of the conference hall highlighted the shortage of meeting facilities in Islamabad, and the ILO conference hall would be an increasingly valuable asset in future.

55. The representative of the Government of the United States wished to record his Government's appreciation for the donation of the land by the Government of Pakistan and congratulated the Building Subcommittee and the Office for their efforts in solving the problems that had arisen during the course of the contract.

56. Mr. Anand, an Employer member, expressed appreciation for the work of the Chairman of the Building Subcommittee and the Treasurer in ensuring satisfactory progress on the two projects.

57. The Committee took note of the Office paper.

Information technology strategy
(Eighth item on the agenda)

58. The Committee had before it a paper⁽¹³⁾ describing information technology developments in the ILO in the years 1997 to 2000.

59. Mr. Marshall, on behalf of the Employer members, acknowledged that the paper was for information only but thought that some consumer feedback would not go amiss. The introduction and implementation of the information technology strategy had been a worthwhile exercise and the Employers appreciated the improved access to information. However, more effort could be focused on the issue of interconnectivity between the Office and the constituent Members. The link with the Governing Body and access to information was good as far as it went but access for the broader constituency could be further developed.

60. The implementation of a secure storage facility was an important safeguard and should be given the priority it deserved. Another area which could be improved was the access to detailed information through the Home Page, a valuable resource although there was a tendency for some of the material to be too general. There had also been retrieval problems which need to be resolved, and of course one of the perennial problems was updating the Home Pages, which some departments appeared not to carry out regularly.

61. Mr. Gray, speaking for the Worker members, was pleased to see that efforts were being made to ensure that the staff used the technology available to them and hoped that this would continue to be the case. Referring to the millennium bug he asked what precautions the Office had taken so far to avoid a catastrophe on 1 January 2000.

62. The Treasurer and Financial Comptroller confirmed that the Office monitored the observations made on the ILO Home Page and constructive comment was always given careful consideration. The millennium bug was a problem common to all older software packages and given its importance it was being treated independently of the information technology strategy. The whole world was affected by this phenomenon and it was only now becoming clear just how serious the potential effects might be. The ILO was aware of the problem and reference had been made to it in the programme and budget proposals for the next biennium. Specialist firms were being approached to examine in-house software and establish how it would be affected by the millennium problem. Negotiations were under way with three firms at present and it was hoped that by the end of November a study would be commissioned to assess the impact of the problem and that the results would be available by March 1998.

63. The problem of the millennium bug underscored another issue related to budgeting for information technology as a whole, the difficulty of providing adequate budgetary resources for an activity which required large investments from time to time rather than steady funding from one biennium to the next. The millennium bug was perhaps the clearest example of this problem, and once the results of the study were available it was likely that a request would have to be made to the Governing Body for special funding.

64. The representative of the Director-General (the Chief of the Information Technology and Communications Bureau) confirmed that the ILO did have a feedback system where all messages were responded to, and some excellent features had been built into the ILO's Home Page as a result. The ILO was constantly trying to improve its Home Page and feedback from the outside world was very important. All problems were constantly monitored and measures had recently been taken to improve retrieval. New hardware and software was being installed which should improve retrieval even more.

65. The representative of the Government of the United States believed that the Office had done excellent work in setting up an Internet site and had taken full advantage of the possibilities of this system. Paragraph 11 of the Office paper mentioned a study to examine a wide area network (WAN). Although the study had not yet been made, the document indicated that a WAN would be quite costly. Was there a cheaper alternative, for instance using the Internet with commercially available software?

66. The Chief of the Information Technology and Communications Bureau replied that until the advent of the Internet the only way to implement a private WAN was to have one's own communications lines, an extremely expensive exercise. The Internet had made it possible to create a virtual private network in which information was encoded or encrypted before transmission, and this provided, in effect, an inexpensive, secure network which could connect external offices with headquarters. However, technology changed so rapidly in this field and this was only one of the options which would be looked at in the study.

67. The representative of the Government of Pakistan thanked the Office for the document on the information technology strategy. Referring to paragraph 13 on publications, she noted that four publication technologies were mentioned: the Web, CD-ROM, print on demand and online databases. While all had a role to play, the Web was perhaps the most user-friendly because it could be easily accessed at home. Using the Web was less expensive than buying CD-ROMs and even after taking into consideration all the problems being posed by the millennium bug the Web was still probably the most useful. The ILO's Home Page could be even more useful if sufficiently detailed information was available to enable research to be carried out on the Web. Paragraph 14 referred to 2,000 potential network users throughout the Organization. Did this figure refer to users at headquarters or include some users in the field as well? To obtain the fullest advantage from this technology it was most important to ensure real-time connectivity and real-time response between the field and headquarters.

68. The representative of the Government of Canada welcomed the progress report on the information technology strategy. A good deal of progress had been made and there had been a dramatic change over the past few years in access to information through the Internet and through other means. Everyone would agree that information technology could be costly, not only when new systems were implemented but also because mistakes might be made when choosing what systems to implement. According to the paper, working groups on communications and publications had been set up, and the care with which the Office was treating this issue was certainly welcomed. But the strategy dealt with what could be called the software of the system. Many choices needed to be made in deciding upon the content of databases and communication information. Did the working groups also look into the programme content of what was communicated, the publications strategy, and, in particular, what research was being carried out in the Office?

69. The representative of the Government of Finland joined previous speakers in expressing his appreciation of the report. The strategy mainly addressed the upgrading of the information technology infrastructure and the proposals seemed quite adequate. Nevertheless, the exercise seemed to lack a precise starting-point. By definition a goal should have been set for this work, and logically this was the added value which would be produced by the ILO for its constituents and customers. Using this approach would have had a clear impact on the overall content of the strategy and its implementation. As things stood now the strategy seemed to be driven by technology.

70. The Chief of the Information Technology and Communications Bureau agreed that the Internet was the most useful technology for disseminating information and the Office certainly intended to focus on Web-based technologies for this task. The issue of what publications would be provided at what cost was still being examined, and committees had been set up for this purpose. However, the focus would remain on easy-to-use web-based technologies. The 2,000 potential users referred to users in Geneva and the external offices, and it was expected that all users would be connected by the end of 1997. It was true that technology was costly and it was easy to make mistakes. The ILO had to resist the temptation to upgrade or buy new software simply because it was there, and concentrate on that which provided added value and was cost-efficient. The content of publications and whether they would be made available on the Web, on CD-ROM or in print was being examined. The whole of the information technology strategy had been formulated to achieve the goals identified at the very start of the exercise. User input had been considerable; and there was continuing dialogue between the parties so as to achieve maximum benefits. Once requirements were established, cost-benefit analyses were carried out to ensure that the investment was sound and that the technology would have a reasonable life-span. Only then was the most appropriate technology installed and implemented.

71. The Committee took note of the Office paper.

Publication of the Provisional Record at the
International Labour Conference
(Ninth item on the agenda)

72. The Committee had before it a paper⁽¹⁴⁾ concerning the publication of the Conference Provisional Record.

73. Mr. Oechslin, on behalf of the Employer members, considered that the decision to discontinue the publication of the Provisional Record for plenary sittings of the International Labour Conference concerning discussions of the Reports of the Chairperson of the Governing Body and the Director-General had been a mistake. Those discussions were very necessary and useful, and provided an important basis for Conference delegates to express their views and opinions. The Provisional Record was also useful for delegates who were unable to participate in all the plenary sittings.

74. Maintaining the status quo was therefore not acceptable, nor would making the Provisional Record available in alternate years be a viable option. The only solution that would meet all the needs of delegates would be to reinstate the Provisional Record for all sessions of the Conference. Costs could perhaps be reduced by mailing these documents electronically wherever this was feasible. Option 4(a) certainly merited closer examination, but was still not a wholly satisfactory solution. It was true that higher costs were involved in returning to the previous arrangement, but unrestricted availability of the Provisional Record was essential for the proper functioning of the Conference.

75. Mr. Gray, speaking on behalf of the Worker members, emphasized that the Workers' group had never been in favour of the change in procedure and had always asked for the full printed daily record. For that reason, the Worker members were in favour of returning to the previous arrangement set out as Option 2 in the decision paragraph.

76. The representative of the Government of the United States, while sympathetic to delegations that used the Provisional Record, observed that there were a number of ways that the information could be made available without returning to the old system. More computer equipment was required, however, and speakers should be encouraged to submit their texts in electronic form in one of the three official languages so they could then be distributed to interested delegations. Use of the Internet, audio services and compact discs should also be explored, which would enable the expenses involved in the return to the old system to be put to better use. He expressed support for Option 1.

77. The representative of the Government of Austria stated that the suppression of the Provisional Record for the purpose of making savings had been regretted by most Conference delegates, and he expressed support for Option 2.

78. Mr. Anand, speaking on behalf of the Employer members, observed that the Director-General's Report dealt with important and sometimes controversial issues which had to be discussed with constituents in the field. Full reports of discussions were especially necessary in the formulation of views and responses, and the full Provisional Record service should therefore be reinstated as under Option 2.

79. The representative of the Government of France stated that, although he had acted as chairman of the working group which recommended the reduction of the Provisional Record, it was clear it had not been entirely successful and he supported the re-establishment of full records for the Conference under Option 2. The use of computers was not viable when one considered that there were some 2,000 delegates involved in the Conference. Problems also arose with ministers' speeches because they were not immediately available. Re-establishing the full Provisional Record would involve additional expenditure, but it had been shown that limiting the printed records was a false economy.

80. The representative of the Government of Sweden said that, although the amount involved was not very large, the issue was an important one, and he agreed that the abolition of the in-session Provisional Record had been a mistake. Option 4(a) should be tried first, but if that was not successful the Office should return to Option 2.

81. The representative of the Government of the Russian Federation did not agree with the proposal to return to the original arrangement in view of the financial consequences involved. Such a step went against the general trend of reform within the ILO, and for this reason Option 1 was the better choice, and more thought should be given to the possibility of distributing delegates' statements over the Internet.

82. The representative of the Government of Germany agreed with the comments made by the representatives of the Russian Federation and the United States and stated that he therefore supported Option 1, but with the additional proviso that no additional costs should be incurred. As in other UN organizations, delegates should provide hard copies of their statements, which would be made available to other delegates.

83. The representative of the Government of Japan stated that the reduction of the Provisional Record, as a cost-saving measure, had not worked well in practice as very few delegates had made their statements available in hard copy or on diskettes. Moreover, access to computer terminals had been very limited. He was against Option 1, however, and recommended that improvements should be made to ensure that information was readily accessible. He expressed support for Option 4(a), but irrespective of the option selected, any savings made should be considered as part of the continuing cost-saving strategy of the Office and not limited to the 1998-99 biennium.

84. The representative of the Government of Italy supported Option 2, but added that Option 4(a) should first be tried as suggested by the representative of Sweden.

85. The representative of the Government of Finland also supported Option 4(a) on a trial basis and agreed that the discontinuation of the in-session Provisional Record had been a mistake which had hampered the possibility of dialogue concerning statements made in plenary.

86. The representative of the Government of Panama supported Option 1 and stated that efforts should be made to ensure all delegates had access to the Internet.

87. The representative of the Government of the United Kingdom stated that he supported Option 1, with improved services, at a cost of US$20,000. He questioned whether the in-session publication of the Provisional Record was really a priority; the funds proposed to reinstate it could be better spent elsewhere.

88. The representative of the Government of Cuba considered that the withdrawal of the in-session Provisional Record had created numerous problems during the Conference and that delegates' statements should once again be made available in printed form on a daily basis. The use of electronic data had proved insufficient, and gave only limited access to important information required by delegates. She expressed support for Option 2.

89. The representative of the Government of Algeria, speaking on behalf of the African governments, associated himself with the comments made by the Employers' and Workers' groups and supported Option 2 without reservation. The Provisional Record, an important Conference document, provided the best means of disseminating delegates' statements.

90. The representative of the Government of China supported Option 2, as the Provisional Record not only provided delegates with a means of following the development of the Conference, but also served as a basis for analysis once the Conference had ended.

91. The representative of the Government of Canada said that insufficient information was provided by the paper under discussion regarding the costs associated with the various options, and especially the impact of these costs on other Conference services. She expressed support for Option 1.

92. The representative of the Government of the United States inquired whether the governments who had supported Option 1 could be asked to consider Option 4(a), as this involved less expenditure than Option 2, and seemed to represent a consensus of opinion at that point.

93. Mr. Gray, speaking on behalf of the Worker members, and referring to the question raised by the United States representative, stated that there was a clear majority in favour of Option 2 and that further discussion was not necessary.

94. Mr. Oechslin, speaking on behalf of the Employer members, agreed with Mr. Gray and stated that Option 2 provided the necessary means of ensuring the proper running of the Conference.

95. The representative of the Government of Japan pointed out that, as well as a decision on the options contained in paragraph 13 of the paper under discussion, a decision was also required on paragraph 14.

96. Mr. Gray, speaking on behalf of the Worker members, agreed with the point for decision contained in paragraph 14.

97. Mr. Oechslin, speaking on behalf of the Employer members, also agreed with the point for decision contained in paragraph 14.

98. The representative of the Government of the United States agreed with the statements by the Employers and Workers as well as Canada, and expressed support for the point for decision in paragraph 14.

99. The Committee recommends that the Governing Body reinstate the printing of trilingual Provisional Records during each Conference session, at a cost of $750,000 per biennium.

100. The Committee recommends to the Governing Body that the additional costs arising in the 1998-99 biennium as a result of changing the existing practice of publication of the Provisional Record be financed in the first instance from savings in Part I of the budget, on the understanding that, should this subsequently prove impossible, the Director-General would propose alternative methods of financing at a later stage in the biennium.

Interim report on programme implementation
during the 1996-97 biennium
(Tenth item on the agenda)

101. The Committee had before it a paper⁽¹⁵⁾ containing information on the implementation of the Programme and Budget for 1996-97.

102. Mr. Oechslin, speaking on behalf of the Employer members, noted that the interim report on programme implementation during the 1996-97 biennium did not provide the Committee with any substantive additional information from what was already known. The report highlighted only the positive aspects of the implementation of the programme and budget, while the Governing Body was more interested in knowing what problems or difficulties were encountered in the execution of the programme. It was simply not possible not to have some problems and difficulties in a programme as vast and as complex as that of the ILO, and the Governing Body should be aware of them so that they could be discussed, analysed and addressed in preparation for the next programme and budget.

103. Paragraph 23 of the report was an example of general and conversational commentary that should be omitted from future documents, which in any case should be shorter. The promotion of democracy and human rights and the campaign to increase the ratification of core ILO Conventions was another example where more substantive information could have been presented.

104. Action programmes were better documented and presented, with an effort made to identify objectives and give an assessment of the status of their implementation. Unfortunately, little attempt had been made to evaluate the effectiveness of activities of the ILO. The Office should address this issue in more detail. For example, the value of a meeting could be seen in what resulted from it. Did it produce new or changed legislation, a better appreciation of the issues, and did the participants learn from the exercise? This was the sort of evaluation that was required. The Committee on Technical Cooperation had taken an important initiative in this respect by visiting member States and critically evaluating in a tripartite environment the various operations of the ILO. A similar objective evaluation of the impact of ILO activities should be established as the basis for future studies of this type.

105. Mr. Gray, speaking for the Worker members, recalled that the report was one of the direct results of the programme and budget discussions in March in which there had been insistent calls, notably from the IMEC governments, for more information and greater transparency of presentation. The Workers wondered, however, what the purpose of the document was and what they were supposed to do with it.

106. The document presented a compilation of information, much of it already known to the Governing Body, concerning ILO activities in the first 18 months of the current biennium. Much of the same material would be found in the Director-General's Report to the Conference next June. The report was not without interest and did add somewhat to the stock of knowledge, notably in respect of activities in the different action programmes, which was the most interesting section of the paper. But it fell short of the expectations of the Workers. The very first paragraph stated that the report was a key component in the implementation of the reform of the ILO strategic planning process. On the basis of the information provided, the Committee was invited to assess the progress made in 1996-97, to gauge the repercussions for the implementation of the 1998-99 programme and budget and to draw appropriate conclusions for preliminary consultations in March 1998 on the programme for 2000-2001. Comments were invited as regards general policy, strategic objectives and guidelines for programme development, as well as on how to sustain the ILO's relevance to its constituents, to increase its efficiency at the national level and its influence internationally. The Worker members did not believe that a generally descriptive document provided a platform for these ambitious objectives to be attained, nor was the time available sufficient, bearing in mind the late publication of the document. Even limiting the discussion to assessing programme implementation would not help much. For example, the Workers knew that major programme 230, a programme they knew very well and valued highly, was being implemented effectively, but that conclusion could not be drawn from the report. There may have been good reasons for the approach taken in the report, but it meant that the Committee was not able to undertake a systematic assessment of programme implementation.

107. It was even more difficult to take the next step and try to draw conclusions of a substantive nature or to establish concrete orientations for the next programme and budget. Probably the Committee should not even try to do so at this stage, because apart from the practicalities involved, it would raise questions on the purpose of the debate in June 1998 on the Director-General's Report. It was difficult to see how the document in its present form could be made more relevant, and it would not be useful to present similar papers at the corresponding point in future biennia.

108. It was also evident that the attempt to group different activities under headings corresponding to the three major objectives was, to a significant degree, arbitrary. The Committee had been informed earlier that there were some $17 million of unallocated funds available, but there was no reference to that in the document. The Office should take a more open approach in telling the Committee what had worked well in programme implementation and what had not, because this type of information could help the Committee to draw conclusions from past experience and to provide guidance for the future. There were other difficulties of a substantive nature which could not pass without comment. In paragraph 5, the idea that the Organization was engaged in the preparation of a declaration on the social dimensions of the liberalization of international trade came as a surprise to the Workers. In paragraph 7 it was explicitly recognized that the major objective in the fight against poverty and unemployment had received higher priority than those on democracy and human rights and on the protection of workers. Given that the same major objectives were to be retained for the coming biennium, could the Workers expect the same hierarchy of priorities to continue? Furthermore, in paragraph 8, it was surprising and indeed unacceptable to read that the new Convention was to address intolerable forms of child labour. All types of child labour were abhorrent and intolerable, and he requested that the Office use more appropriate terminology in this Convention.

109. In paragraph 91, in the footnote, the Office should have taken greater care with the terminology used, especially for Conventions Nos. 156 and 169, which did not figure in the Workers' accepted definition of fundamental Conventions and should not figure in the Office definition either. Finally, in paragraph 227, although the intention of the Office was to place on the Internet Governing Body and other official documents as soon as they were approved, experience at the current session showed that this was far from being a reality. This was just one example of a programme implementation problem which could have been highlighted in this document.

110. In conclusion, the Worker members stressed that the criticisms made of the document should not be construed as criticism of the Office. It had been asked to produce a paper and it had clearly worked hard and conscientiously to do so. If the Committee wanted something different, then it was up to the Committee to give clear and realistic explanations of what was required. The Worker members would cooperate in these efforts without in any way encroaching on the prerogatives and responsibilities of the Office.

111. The representative of the Government of Canada, speaking on behalf of the IMEC Government members, thanked the Office for the document and for responding to the Governing Body's request to include an extra step in the budget planning cycle at the November session of the Governing Body. This was an important step in the view of the IMEC group, as it provided an opportunity for further dialogue and discussion within the Governing Body and with the Office on identifying strategic policy and implementation issues.

112. As this was the first occasion for such a discussion and in response to the comment made by the Workers, she recalled that the reasons for the request for this additional step were twofold. First, the idea was to make any necessary adjustments to the activities for the 1998-99 biennium prior to its commencement on 1 January based on evaluation lessons learned and any new circumstances that had to be incorporated in the programme. Secondly, as agreed in the Governing Body in March, the IMEC members were looking for "a discussion of a concise report by the Office evaluating aspects of programme implementation leading to the identification of policy issues which may be addressed in a subsequent preliminary consultation paper on strategic programme orientation for the next biennium". The IMEC members recognized the efforts and the time invested in this document by the Office. It did provide an interesting overview of programme activities and the status of their implementation, which was a useful source of information for a better understanding of the programme. However, she endorsed the remarks made by the Employers and the Workers that the paper was weak in analysis and evaluation, and suggested six improvements that could be considered for the next document in this series. The first was a stronger analysis of the implementation of programmes, including an assessment of strengths and weaknesses and ways that these should be addressed and improved. Second, the document should give a clearer identification of significant strategic policy and programming issues drawn from the text and from the evaluations. Third, data on actual expenditure should be included. Fourth, data should be given on the allocation of resources to the three primary objectives, namely employment creation and poverty alleviation, worker protection and promoting democracy and human rights. Fifth, the report should give the results of evaluations, lessons learned and how these had been used to improve programming and delivery. Sixth, an overview of evaluation plans at both the programme and activity levels should be incorporated. Proposals from the Office would also be welcome on an effective methodology for reporting results of evaluations so that Governing Body members were aware of their impact on programme objectives and delivery.

113. Looking ahead to the March paper for the preliminary consultations on the Programme and Budget for 2000-2001, she indicated that the discussion would be facilitated by a critical assessment and analysis of the current programme, endorsed by an evaluation of the results supported by expenditure data along the following lines: first, it would be important for an assessment of the performance of major programmes and activities in terms of the strategic programme and country objectives; second, an outline of the underlying strategic thinking on which to build a programme of work related to the priority objectives and sub-objectives with indicative planning figures; finally, it should be made clear how the research publications and action programmes supported these priority objectives and sub-objectives.

114. As the next programme and budget was the first of the new millennium, it was appropriate to assess fully all aspects of the current programme. One of the key questions in the view of the IMEC group was to establish how the ILO's unique role within its mandate of social justice could be reflected in a coherent, focused programme. She hoped that the March discussion would help shed light on this question.

115. The representative of the Government of Sweden fully supported the statement by the IMEC group. From the beginning, the idea of this exercise was to improve the results and the impact of the numerous and diverse activities of the ILO. The tools available to assess the impact and results were far from adequate, but this document represented a good first step. Changes in the budgetary process, in the budgetary system and in the monitoring and assessment system were required, and the Office needed to detach itself from its existing, old-fashioned approach. Less emphasis needed to be spent on a purely historic narrative of implementation of programmes and more spent on a proper evaluation of the outcome of the various activities. The present document did not satisfy these objectives and although it was interesting, it was not terribly helpful from the standpoint of the preliminary work needed for the preparation of the next programme and budget. A more useful document could be based on the report submitted to the Committee on Technical Cooperation for the period January 1996 to June 1997, which presented a thorough evaluation of technical cooperation activities.

116. The representative of the Government of Egypt thanked the Office for the efforts made in eliminating poverty throughout the world. She commended the IPEC programme, and said that much had been achieved at the regional, national and international levels in eliminating child labour. The new ILO Convention on intolerable forms of child labour was an important and significant advance in this field. The implementation by the Office of the ILO's programme and budget promoted extremely valuable active partnership programmes in many countries, and the continuing search for extra-budgetary funds had further boosted the development of technical cooperation activities. More support should be given to those countries in a transitional phase or which were undertaking extensive structural adjustment programmes of their own. She questioned the importance of the need to gather additional statistical data on child labour from 40 different countries when comprehensive information was already available from the IPEC report on child labour. In view of the scarcity of resources available for combating child labour in member countries, it might be preferable to work with the information already gathered and reallocate the resources that would have been used for the additional study, to support existing child labour programmes in the countries concerned. She congratulated the Office on the success of the first Enterprise Forum and noted that enterprise development was a crucial element in the alleviation of poverty.

117. As follow-up on the Fourth World Conference on Women, she commended the ILO's interregional programme on More and Better Jobs for Women, which aimed to enhance national capacity, strengthen the legal and institutional framework on gender-related issues and increase international concern for women's employment and equality issues in the field of work. The Government of Egypt was particularly interested in this project and she hoped that its scope could be eventually widened. Referring to paragraph 170, she noted that the Active Partnership Policy had enhanced services to constituents and she encouraged the Office to include a labour standards expert in the MDT based in Cairo, to promote democracy and human rights. Much had been achieved by the Office in the current biennium, but there was still much to do.

118. The representative of the Government of Malaysia noted that the report was intended to provide a summary of activities that had been carried out by the Office during the current biennium. There was a lack of consistency in the report, for example in paragraph 5 where the number of new ratifications as a result of the activities to promote democracy and human rights was listed as 60 while in paragraph 17, the figure was given as 70. He hoped that these inconsistencies would be avoided in future reports. The Office should continue to make available on the Internet a listing and short description of the ILO's most recently published books and periodicals, as this gave member States the opportunity to review the content of the material before deciding whether to purchase it or not. The ILO no longer provided actuarial services to evaluate the social security schemes of member States, and he suggested that the Committee review this policy, as some member States were still dependent on the ILO for such specialized services.

119. The representative of the Government of the Russian Federation thanked the ILO for the preparation and presentation of the interim report. While he supported some of the criticism already directed at the report and hoped that the Office would take these criticisms into account for future reports, he acknowledged that considerable effort had been made in its preparation. While activities foreseen for the biennium 2000-2001 would have to be formulated within the limits of the financial resources currently available, it was important already to plan for activities in key areas such as country surveys on social and labour issues and the problems of working immigrants, with emphasis on solving labour disputes, strengthening legal systems and ensuring continued support for tripartism and the development of social partnership at the national level.

120. The representative of the Government of France recalled the Governing Body had requested the report and, while it was perhaps not as informative as it could be, it was a useful document, and he expressed his appreciation to the Office. The report did not document all the problem issues encountered in the implementation of the 1996-97 programme, but it was precisely these issues that needed to be evaluated. There was little use in a report that simply gave a chronological implementation of ILO activities, and future reports should contain more evaluation analysis, preferably supported by figures. Programmes and activities should be flexible enough to be modified during implementation if such a course was justified by interim evaluations. There were some inconsistencies and contradictions in other paragraphs of the report, notably paragraphs 66, 138 and 145, but it was not necessary to go into detail in view of the comments of previous speakers.

121. The representative of the Government of the United States recognized that considerable work had gone into the preparation of the report, but it would have been more useful had it been enhanced in ways already mentioned by other speakers. It was essential to make a stronger connection between identified priorities and the funds needed to achieve them, as this was the only way the Governing Body could examine whether the activities needed further refinement. The report should in future be a vehicle for a close analysis of interim results in a way that would allow the Committee to focus on the objectives of the Organization and determine if they were being met.

122. The Director-General noted that speakers had agreed that considerable work had been needed to draft the paper submitted to the Committee. He confirmed that this work had indeed taken up much of the Office's time, to the extent that it had been necessary to devote additional resources to the task. He largely shared the unanimous view that the paper was of no interest.

123. As Mr. Gray had said, the paper had been requested by the Committee. Many speakers on all sides had questioned the nature of the document requested. Unless there was some suggestion of reluctance or disinclination on the part of the Office (an idea which he in any case rejected), thought needed to be given to the nature of the exercise which the Office had been asked to undertake and to whether the Office was in a position to see it through successfully.

124. The statements heard in March and during the present meeting showed the ambiguity of the request and the extraordinary difficulty faced by the Office in complying with it.

125. It now appeared that the Office had not been asked for a report on what had been achieved, although the paper in fact described what had been done to comply with the requests. Furthermore, what had been requested was a statement of accounts, although the biennium was not yet over. Certain speakers considered that it was of no interest to indicate that such and such a meeting had taken place or that this or that had been done during the Conference. If that was not the point of the additional exercise, there would be no point in repeating it.

126. More ambiguous was the request for the Office to carry out an analysis on the suitability of the choices that had been made. The Committee did not realize the extraordinary difficulty of such an exercise for the Office. The Governing Body was not homogenous. The programme and budget was the result of a painful, complicated and difficult compromise in which all those involved had been required to state their priorities, and one person's priority was not another's. Some of the statements that had just been heard clearly showed how something that appeared important to one person was not important to another.

127. How could one conceive of a single instance of the Office, however audacious it might be, questioning the Governing Body's choices during a so-called evaluation exercise? That could not be expected of the Office. If the Committee at any time had doubts or questions concerning the choices that had been made, it was in his view for the Governing Body to formulate those doubts and questions. The Office could not do this in a hypocritical, insidious or sneaky manner by suggesting, not that it questioned the objectives themselves, but rather that certain types of programme wanted by some people had not achieved the desired results and were consequently liable to be modified in the years to come. The Director-General considered that this, too, was the Committee's job.

128. What was wanted therefore, without jeopardizing the implementation of the programme or fundamental objectives, was an evaluation of particular programmes. The question was which ones? The programme and budget for a particular biennium included a multitude of very widely differing projects and programmes. To ensure that the exercise would be effective, the Governing Body, like many enterprises or public sector organizations, needed to select or sample and to indicate which of those diverse programmes would be suitable for very close evaluation. It might well be appropriate to select three or four action programmes for such an exercise. For example, the Governing Body had decided to complete an evaluation of the active partnership programme and to select a number of countries to which missions would be sent. It was thus entirely conceivable that the Governing Body tomorrow might ask the Office to organize a series of evaluation exercises of that type. Who would do this? Who should do this?

129. Some members of the Committee had been amused by passages in the paper in which departments appeared to express a clear conscience and satisfaction with the work they had done. It was extremely rare for anyone to do public penance and accept that they had made fundamental mistakes. That was not the behaviour of average officials, who were well aware of the potential damage that such admissions might do to their careers. Consequently, throughout the public sector, but also in the private sector, the attempt was made to draw a distinction between supervisors and those who were supervised. Was the Bureau of Programming and Management or some other unit, or perhaps an independent audit system, being asked to undertake such an analysis with a view to determining whether, at a given moment, the methods or established practices used in certain projects or in a particular programme need to be modified, or whether a certain number of projects should be abandoned? Such operations were possible, but would require more specific indication by the Committee of what was required.

130. In order to avert a situation in future in which a lack of precise information might result in a document bearing a strange resemblance to the one submitted today which had provoked such sharp criticism, he proposed that an attempt should be made during the coming months to define what might be expected of an evaluation exercise. He suggested that a systematic effort should be made to indicate which types of project or programme should be evaluated (the number was inevitably limited), how such an evaluation should be carried out and what criteria the Governing Body considered suitable for such evaluations. In all such matters the Office was naturally at the disposal of the Committee and Governing Body. The worst thing, both for the Office and the Governing Body, would be to carry on a dialogue of the deaf on this subject. That would give the Office the feeling of not understanding what was asked of it, while the Governing Body would get the impression that the Office ignored its repeated requests because it wanted to hide something with regard to functioning or implementation. He therefore hoped that it would be possible during the coming weeks to clarify what was required of the Office in such a way that, in this area as in others, it would be possible to provide the information and documents required by the Governing Body and the Programme, Financial and Administrative Committee.

131. The Director-General confirmed that the exercise was cumbersome and costly when implemented by the Governing Body rather than by the Office. He believed that the problem was knowing whether it was possible to define more flexible and effective methods allowing effective monitoring. He was not convinced that the Office was necessarily the best guide in this area.

132. Mr. Oechslin, speaking on behalf of the Employers, pointed out that an evaluation currently being carried out in the field by members of the Committee on Technical Cooperation was an example of the type of evaluation which could be done by the Governing Body.

133. The representative of the Government of Canada associated herself with the Employers' comments on technical cooperation. The document produced for discussion in the Committee on Technical Cooperation had highlighted lessons learned and provided a good basis for commenting on strategic issues, and she recommended that such issues should be taken into account.

134. The Committee took note of the Office paper.

Other financial and general questions
(Eleventh item on the agenda)

Reports of the Joint Inspection Unit

135. The Committee had before it a paper⁽¹⁶⁾ containing the ILO's observations on a number of Joint Inspection Unit reports.

136. A representative of the Joint Inspection Unit referred to the report "Coordination of policy and programming frameworks for more effective development cooperation" (JIU/REP/96/3). The fundamental question raised in the report was how to rationalize development cooperation strategies and tools of the donor community in each city and country in order to be more effective and facilitate the task of aid coordination and management by the host governments. The report's findings left no doubt that one way of achieving optimal efficiency, reduced overhead costs and increased net flow of resources to the recipient countries was to integrate, as far as possible, the numerous policy and programme frameworks used by international development partners to formulate, implement and evaluate their development assistance. Convergence at country level of donor community frameworks placed enormous pressure on the operational capacities of recipient countries, especially the least developed countries, where the frameworks tended to proliferate. There was an urgent need for the recipient countries and the United Nations system to strive for a single programme mechanism which could be shared by a wider donor community in each country.

137. The Joint Inspection Unit was pleased that the general thrust of the report had been integrated into the United Nations reform proposals which were under active consideration by the United Nations General Assembly. For example, in Action 10 of the reform proposals contained in UN document A51/950, the UN Secretary-General proposed: "In order to achieve goal-oriented collaboration, programmatic coherence and mutual reinforcement, the United Nations programmes of assistance will be formulated and presented as part of a single United Nations development assistance framework with common objectives and time-frame. Preparation would entail collaborative programming and close consultation with governments including compatibility with Country Strategy Notes (CSN) wherever they exist." In this connection, the United Nations Committee for Programming and Coordination, at its most recent session, endorsed all the recommendations contained in report JIU/REP/96/3 and decided to submit the report to the UN General Assembly at its current session for appropriate action. Furthermore, the UNESCO Executive Board, after an extensive discussion on this JIU report, adopted a resolution requesting the UNESCO Director-General to submit: "a plan of action on the implementation of the recommendations of the JIU". The Joint Inspection Unit felt that the ILO comments contained in paragraphs 22-34 of document GB.270/PFA/11 restated some of the defensive observations made by the ACC on the JIU report and were at variance with the very positive reception given to the report by some of the legislative bodies of the United Nations as cited above.

138. The United Nations General Assembly, in June 1996, had adopted an important resolution (50/233) relating to the Joint Inspection Unit, which invited United Nations organizations to take "concrete action on the recommendations of the JIU", and stressed that "the impact of the JIU on the cost-effectiveness of the activities within the United Nations system is a shared responsibility" involving, inter alia, member States, the Joint Inspection Unit and the secretariats of the organizations. This issue was raised in 1996 in the Committee on Technical Cooperation. The JIU would like the Governing Body to review the way in which JIU reports were handled by the ILO in order to conform with the UN resolution cited above.

139. The representative of the Government of Japan agreed with the representative of the JIU that the ILO's current practices of dealing with JIU reports should be reviewed and proposed that the Office and the Governing Body collaborate in this exercise.

140. Mr. Marshall, speaking on behalf of the Employers, referred to paragraph 2 of the Office paper, and endorsed the Director-General's decision to reserve the right to study each proposal on a case-by-case basis and to opt out of the shared premises when warranted by circumstances. ILO premises must be readily accessible to a wide range of people and, in some instances, security measures in shared accommodation may have prevented people entering the premises. Without being opposed to the principle of shared accommodation, it was important to reserve the ILO's right to opt out if necessary.

141. Mr. Gray, speaking on behalf of the Workers, agreed with the Employers that the question of accessibility to ILO premises in the field was very important and endorsed the Director-General's reservations on this issue. It was necessary to avoid problems in entering ILO premises, such as those encountered by some Asian colleagues in Bangkok.

142. The Workers were pleased to note that there had been some progress in the Office with respect to the advancement of women, albeit not as much as had been hoped, and it should give serious consideration to the establishment of child-care facilities for both the staff and for Conference delegates.

143. The representative of the Government of Sweden welcomed the Office statement that it would further enhance its efforts to mainstream gender perspectives in its planning, programming, budgeting and monitoring and noted, with satisfaction, that the percentage of women in the Professional and higher categories had increased. She noted the comments made by the Office on the section of the JIU report "Coordination of policy and programming frameworks for more effective development cooperation" (JIU/REP/96/3) which dealt with the Country Strategy Note (CSN). She stressed that the CSN should provide a broad framework based on articulated national development priorities into which the UN system and other donors could integrate their programmes. A further analysis and discussion on this instrument would be welcomed.

144. She requested clarification as to why the Office felt it was necessary for each agency to conduct a separate periodic evaluation of policy and programming frameworks. A more unified UN approach at country level could benefit from closer cooperation between agencies. It was important to continually develop procedures for the design, monitoring and evaluation of technical cooperation programmes and projects to ensure that assistance to countries was more effective and more manageable for the recipients.

145. The representative of the Government of Canada associated herself with the statement made by the representative of the Government of Sweden on the importance of gender issues and recalled that her Government had always supported the proposal for providing child-care facilities for delegates.

146. A representative of the Director-General (the Director of the Bureau of Programming and Management) recalled that procedures for submitting JIU reports had been established some years ago, and members of the Governing Body and the Office had to adhere to them. These procedures had been amended recently when the Governing Body had asked for a document which gave comments on each report, instead of a list of the reports.

147. In response to the question raised by the representative of the Government of Sweden concerning periodic evaluation, he explained that the Office, in view of the ILO's mandate, considered it most important for the Employers and Workers to be associated with these evaluations. This tripartite consultation was unique to the ILO and was the reason the ILO carried out separate evaluations.

148. The Committee took note of the Office paper.

Appointments to the Investments Committee of the
International Labour Organization

149. At the 268th Session (March 1997) of the Governing Body the Committee considered a paper⁽¹⁷⁾ concerning the extension of the terms of appointment of the present members of the Investments Committee of the International Labour Organization.

150. The Committee recommends that the Governing Body renew the appointments of Mr. Yves Oltramare, Baron Sirtema van Grovestins and Mr. Jean-Pierre Cuoni as members of the Investments Committee of the International Labour Organization for a further period, expiring on 31 December 1999.

Financial questions relating to the
International Institute for Labour Studies

Authorization to accept contributions and gifts

151.The Committee recommends that the Governing Body accept the contributions and gifts listed in document GB.270/PFA/3/2.

152.Mr. Marshall, on behalf of the Employer members, expressed gratitude to the Employers organizations of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden for their contributions.

Programme and Budget proposals for 1998-99

153.The Committee recommends that the Governing Body endorse the programme and approve the budget for the International Institute for Labour Studies for 1998-99 as set out in document GB.270/PFA/3/1.

Other financial and general questions

Additional funds for the Working Party on the
Evaluation of the Active Partnership Policy

154.The Committee had before it a paper⁽¹⁸⁾ requesting additional funding for the Working Party on the Evaluation of the Active Partnership Policy.

155.The Committee recommends to the Governing Body that the additional costs in 1998-99, estimated at $20,000, be financed in the first instance from savings in Part I of the budget, on the understanding that, should this subsequently prove impossible, the Director-General would propose alternative methods of financing at a later stage in the biennium.

Geneva, 18 November 1997.

(Signed) U. Kalbitzer,
Reporter.

Points for decision:

Paragraph 9;
Paragraph 22;
Paragraph 25;
Paragraph 31;
Paragraph 47;
Paragraph 99;
Paragraph 100;
Paragraph 150;
Paragraph 151;
Paragraph 153;
Paragraph 155.

Appendix

Amendments to the Financial Rules

(Additions are shown in bold type; deletions are indicated by square brackets)

VIII. MANAGEMENT OF FUNDS

...

8.40 Loss of cash or negotiable Instruments,
Cases of Fraud

Any loss of cash or negotiable instruments and any case of fraud, presumption of fraud or attempted fraud must be reported at once to the Treasurer who will ensure that appropriate follow-up action is taken and that full details are submitted to the External Auditor with the related accounts, in conformity with Rule [11.40] 13.10.

XI. PROPERTY

...

11.40 Treatment of Cases of Loss of Assets,

Fraud, or Unrecovered Debt

(See Rule 13)

[(a) The Chief of the Budget and Finance Branch may authorise losses of cash, stores, or other assets not exceeding the equivalent of US$400 in each case to be written off if in his judgement the cost of recuperating the loss would exceed the amount to be written off, or if it is very unlikely that action to recuperate the loss would be successful.

(b) The Treasurer may authorise the writing-off of losses exceeding the equivalent of $400. A statement of all losses over $400 which are written off shall be submitted to the External Auditor with the related accounts.

(c) For appropriate cases, the Director-General shall appoint a Property Survey Committee, which, after full investigation of each case, may authorise losses of cash, stores or other assets to be written off.

(d) The Treasurer or the Property Survey Committee, as the case may be, shall fix the responsibility for the loss, if any, attaching to any official of the ILO. Such official may be required to reimburse the loss either partially or in full, irrespective of whether the loss is covered by insurance or not.

(e) Any case of fraud, presumption of fraud or attempted fraud must be reported to the Director-General through the Treasurer.

(f) Amounts written off and subsequently recovered after the close of the financial period in which the writing-off occurred shall be treated as miscellaneous income.]

XIII. ACCOUNTABILITY

13.10 Any case of fraud, presumption of fraud or attempted fraud must be reported to the Director-General through the Treasurer. Full details of such cases shall be submitted to the External Auditor with the related accounts.

13.20 Officials who, as a result of fraud or other misconduct or serious negligence, cause any kind of financial or other loss to the ILO may, without prejudice to the application of the Staff Regulations, be required to reimburse such loss, either partially or in full, irrespective of whether the loss is covered by insurance or not.

13.30 The Director-General shall appoint a Committee on Accountability, which will report to him through the Treasurer and Financial Comptroller. The Treasurer shall refer to the Committee on Accountability appropriate cases of fraud, presumption of fraud and attempted fraud, as well as of dishonesty, negligence or disregard of established Office procedures or directives which resulted or could have resulted in financial or other loss to the Office or damage to its property. The Committee's function shall include establishing the facts; fixing the responsibility for the loss, if any; making, where applicable, recommendations relating to reimbursement; referral to the unit responsible for disciplinary matters; and authorising the writing-off of the loss concerned.

13.40 The Committee on Accountability shall also examine cases of persistent failure on the part of an official to respect the Office's financial rules and procedures or the recommendations of either the External or Internal Auditor, which have been accepted by the Office, establish the facts, where necessary, as under Rule 13.30 above, and refer such cases to the unit responsible for disciplinary matters.

13.50 Where a loss is estimated as US$400 or less, the writing-off may be authorised by the Director of the Financial Services Department. The Treasurer or the Committee on Accountability, in cases referred to it, may authorise the writing off of losses exceeding the equivalent of US$400. A statement of all losses over $400 which are written off shall be submitted to the External Auditor with the related accounts.

13.60 A loss may be written off if, in the judgement of the authorising official or the Committee on Accountability, the cost of recuperating the loss would exceed the amount to be written off, or if it is very unlikely that action to recuperate the loss would be successful.

13.70 Amounts written off and subsequently recovered after the close of the financial period in which the writing-off occurred shall be treated as miscellaneous income.

[XIII] XIV. INTERNAL AUDIT

Rules 13.10(a) and (b) are unchanged and become 14.10(a) and (b) respectively.

1. This report should be read in conjunction with GB.270/8(Corr.).

2. GB.270/PFA/1.

3. GB.270/PFA/2.

4. GB.270/PFA/3/1.

5. GB.270/PFA/3/2.

6. GB.270/PFA/4/1.

7. GB.270/PFA/4/2.

8. Appended to document GB.270/PFA/4/1.

9. GB.270/PFA/5/1.

10. GB.270/PFA/5/2.

11. GB.270/PFA/6.

12. GB.270/PFA/7.

13. GB.270/PFA/8.

14. GB.270/PFA/9.

15. GB.270/PFA/10.

16. GB.270/PFA/11.

17. GB.268/PFA/7/5.

18. GB.270/PFA/11/1.

For further information, please contact the Official Relations Branch at Tel: +41.22.799.7732, Fax: +41.22.799.8944 or by e-mail: dale@ilo.org

This page was created by HK. It was approved by NdW. It was last updated on 20 November 1997.