ILO is a specialized agency of the United Nations
ILO-en-strap
Governing Body
 

GB.271/5
271st Session
Geneva, March 1998

FIFTH ITEM ON THE AGENDA

Preliminary consultation on the Programme
and Budget proposals for 2000-2001

Contents

I. Introduction: Missions and objectives of the Organization

1. The preparation of the budget for the biennium 2000-2001 is a task of special importance. The beginning of a new millennium offers an opportunity to reflect on what the future holds. This is particularly true for the agencies of the United Nations system following the proposals for reorganization drawn up by the Secretary-General and the initial decisions taken by the United Nations General Assembly. In view of the changes made in the Organization and the Office over the past few years, the ILO intends to be fully involved in the process of reflection and in the activities that are already under way.

2. The Governing Body has raised many questions at its recent sessions concerning the presentation of the budget and the monitoring of its implementation. Discussion on the preliminary orientations for the biennium 2000-2001 should provide an opportunity to clarify these questions and ensure greater coherence between the Organization's missions and its objectives, structure and operating methods, as well as the process of preparing the budget and budgetary control.

3. The present paper has been drawn up with the aim of presenting to the Governing Body the main themes on which guidance would be welcome.

Missions and objectives of the Organization

4. In recent biennia the Governing Body has specified the missions and objectives of the Organization and the Office. Three fundamental missions have been defined:

5. Through these three fundamental missions the ILO has been made responsible by the Governing Body to promote a number of fundamental objectives that have been confirmed over several biennia. These include furthering democracy, human rights and international labour standards, promoting employment, combatting poverty and protecting working people.

6. Does the Governing Body wish to confirm the missions of the Organization and the objectives to be attained as established in previous years? Does it wish to change them? Does it wish to make changes or significant modifications?

II. Standard-setting policy and promoting tripartism

7. Defending and promoting workers' rights requires effective standard-setting policy and dynamic tripartism.

(a) Standard-setting policy

8. The choices available to the budget for the biennium 2000-2001 must as a priority take into account the will of constituents, clearly expressed both in the ILO and in other organizations, to see the universal implementation of fundamental rights (the social ground rules of globalization) and the pursuit of social progress (to match economic progress) by strengthening tripartism and democratic institutions.

9. With the dawning of the new millennium, the ILO has a bigger role to play in protecting working people and promoting good working conditions, and international labour standards are one of the instruments it uses. Throughout its existence, the ILO has been the only organization to propose, through social dialogue, mechanisms to protect workers against inhuman and degrading working conditions, even when these mechanisms have been radically challenged, under the pretext of a laissez-faire policy, in attempts to change them markedly or indeed abolish them. Current efforts to review the relevance of international labour standards will make it possible to identify protective measures that no longer correspond to changes in techniques or in the organization or nature of work.

10. Budget preparations for the biennium 2000-2001 are taking place during a period of transition for the ILO's standard-setting activities. A number of positive developments are expected over the next few months (the draft Declaration, the Working Party on Policy regarding the Revision of Standards, follow-up on the discussion of Part II of the Director-General's Report to the Conference of June 1997, evaluation of the changes to the supervisory machinery in 1994), which will have implications for programmes and, as a consequence, on the budget.

11. As regards fundamental rights, the ILO's objective should be to pursue the policy of "universal" ratification of the fundamental rights Conventions (Nos. 29 and 105; 87 and 98; 100 and 111; 138). In this respect, the adoption of a Declaration concerning the promotion of fundamental rights within the mandate of the ILO at the 86th Session of the Conference should provide fresh impetus and a new dimension for the initiative launched immediately following the World Summit for Social Development, and could establish steady and continuing efforts in this area. The follow-up mechanism for implementing the principles established by the Declaration should come into operation during the current biennium.

12. Moreover, the increase in the number of voluntary codes of conduct referring to the values and even to the provisions of international labour standards -- mainly those relating to fundamental rights -- could in certain conditions act as a stepping stone and provide support for the standard-setting activities of the ILO. In the light of the conclusions of the Working Party on the Social Dimensions of the Liberalization of International Trade, the Office should not only pursue research on the content, scope and effectiveness of such codes, but also explore possible partnerships with enterprises that have adopted, or wish to adopt, such codes of conduct, particularly multinational enterprises.

13. International labour standards further social progress in two ways: they define the rules to be observed through fundamental rights, without which none of the other rights can be implemented; more generally, they ensure worker protection by defining the mechanisms and stating general principles for each country to apply.

14. The work of revising the International Labour Code and establishing the procedure for choosing new areas for standard setting, improving supervisory machinery and evaluating the impact of standards should be continued during the biennium 2000-2001.

15. Improving the procedure for choosing standards involves studies by the technical departments to identify possible subjects (acceptable to constituents) for standard setting by drawing on legal, social and economic data that confirm their "added standard-setting value", and on the work of the Working Party on Policy regarding the Revision of Standards that the Governing Body has endorsed. The proposals for revisions should be presented either for inclusion in the Conference agenda or for further examination by a meeting of experts so that the Conference is in possession of the basic facts and can carry out the appropriate revision (social security Conventions; maritime Conventions in the framework of a Joint Maritime Commission).

16. Improving the preparation of standards implies certain choices and perhaps the revision of certain procedures, particularly those relating to the content and drafting of standards. The quality and relevance of future standards would -- in the same way as existing standards -- be improved if there was an evaluation mechanism that could gauge the impact of standards not only in the legal domain, but also in the economic and social spheres. The Governing Body will have to re-examine the best way of going about this task by closely involving the decentralized teams and technical departments in this evaluation. If necessary, a pilot project could be scheduled for a group of Conventions (safety and health). The creation (or existence) of databases in technical departments would help in carrying out this evaluation. It would also be necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of standards adopted by the Conference by examining the influence they have had on new labour legislation adopted since the beginning of the 1990s.

17. The Conventions and Recommendations adopted at the Conference need to be systematically promoted. The instruments on the most intolerable forms of child labour likely to be adopted in 1999 should be the subject of a large-scale campaign to promote them that draws in particular on the constitutional mechanism of submission to the competent authorities. Furthermore, as regards employment policy, the Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181), should form the subject of special promotional measures, particularly through the multidisciplinary advisory teams (MDTs). The ratification of Conventions (or the effect given to Recommendations) is important as an indicator of the value of the ILO's standard-setting activities, and must remain one of the targets for promotional activities, but it is not sufficient in itself. Special attention must also be paid to the quality of implementation of these standards.

18. Changes in supervisory mechanisms implemented in 1995 (frequency of reporting, choice of fundamental Conventions, dates of the meetings of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations) will need to be evaluated during the biennium, in accordance with the decision taken by the Governing Body. The results obtained through the functioning of ILO supervisory bodies must be better publicized.

(b) Strengthening tripartism

19. Tripartism continues to be central to the ILO in the development and the promotion of its principles. It is unique to the ILO in the UN system and has proven its worth since 1919. The Organization, with its tripartite constituents, continues to work for the promotion of social stability through social justice and development. Globalization, the liberalization of trade and investments, and technological developments are changing the roles of public and private actors in economies and in societies. This process is bringing about a diversification of civil society and increased interaction between its different sectors. The promotion of the ILO's objectives, democracy, employment creation, poverty alleviation and the protection of workers are the primary concerns of the Organization's constituents.

20. In an increasingly complex and decentralized world, the ILO's constituents need to promote dialogue with civil society as a whole, including the private sector and a large variety of non-governmental organizations and interests.

21. The essential contribution of tripartism is that it links together political decision-making and the two sides of the process through which the wealth creation of a nation takes place -- labour and management. In less hierarchical, more diversified systems, well-functioning tripartism can help increase flexibility within the framework of appropriate labour standards.

22. Diversification has profound consequences on the world of work, the quality and quantity of employment, competitiveness, management and the framework of labour standards. Whatever these consequences are, however, the main aims of the ILO remain valid. The solutions are the primary concern of the ILO's constituents, and the roots of any search for negotiated settlements and social dialogue are the same as those which gave the ILO its tripartite structure in 1919. Tripartism therefore remains as relevant as ever. The promotion of tripartism calls for the strengthening of the relevant institutions -- the organizations of constituents -- and their interaction.

23. ILO activities should be focused on strengthening the capacity of constituents. Promoting and implementing the Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 144), is a means of helping to realize the objective of strengthening employers' and workers' organizations. It also helps by strengthening standards relating to social progress and respect for workers' rights (labour inspection, occupational safety and health, protection of wages, etc.).

24. As regards the attention given to the quality of the implementation of standards by States that have ratified them, special efforts should be made to allow more active participation by employers and workers in the consultation mechanisms provided in many international labour Conventions.

25. Several of the measures adopted in 1994 have in part resulted in the task of reporting on ratified Conventions being shared by employers' and workers' organizations. Action should be taken to strengthen the participation by employers' and workers' organizations in standard-setting activities as a whole.

III. Active Partnership Policy

26. The delivery of the ILO's services to its constituents at country level takes place through the effective functioning of the Active Partnership Policy (APP). While there appears to be a consensus that APP has already brought about significant improvements in operational activities, sufficient experience has now been accumulated to adjust and streamline it for the future. To identify possible improvements, an internal evaluation was initiated which culminated in a workshop in Turin on the implementation of the APP. More recently, a Working Party of the Governing Body undertook an evaluation including visits to a number of countries, and has begun to compile its recommendations.(1)  Following the Governing Body's discussion at its present session, the conclusions of this evaluation will be used to orient and add to the substance of the proposals made below, which already reflect some of the Working Party's preliminary discussions.

27. Country objectives have proved a useful means of ensuring that the priorities of constituents are better reflected in ILO action, and their development can in itself be a means of promoting tripartism. In addition to making the process of establishing and updating country objectives even more responsive to the needs of constituents, more efficiently implemented and more flexibly applied, better links should be established with resource mobilization efforts. This will require means of prioritizing internal resources, including RBTC, and a more convincing presentation of the needs identified in country objectives to extra-budgetary donors, especially those with decentralized decision-making which requires greater involvement of the field structure in resource mobilization.

28. The need for rapid and flexible operational responses to the needs of constituents has led to a dual approach to the development of technical cooperation project proposals. On the one hand, projects at national level are needed to face such large-scale problems as unemployment, poverty and exclusion. At the same time, some services can be delivered more efficiently at global, regional or subregional levels. Based on existing work, it is expected that global programmes will be operational on workers' activities, employers' activities, child labour (International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour -- IPEC), women's employment (More and Better Jobs for Women), small enterprise promotion (International Small Enterprise Promotion Programme -- ISEP), occupational safety and health and environment (OSH&E), social exclusion (Strategy and Tools against Social Exclusion and Poverty -- STEP) and industrial relations and social dialogue. These global technical cooperation programmes will both contribute to and complement the Office's standard-setting, analytical and advisory work. The Office will also need to ensure their conceptual coherence and consistency with ILO policy and principles.

29. Until now, international technical cooperation programmes have had to be designed in such a way that most of their expenses were covered by extrabudgetary resources. In practice, the regular budget of the Organization is often called upon to make a significant contribution to these programmes. This leads to both political and ethical problems. Is it appropriate for the regular budget to contribute to programmes that are supposed to be entirely financed by outside resources? Is this practice acceptable for some programmes? If so, which ones and according to what criteria? Does not such a practice falsify the allocation of regular budget resources?

30. Even in the case of technical cooperation programmes of worldwide scope, implementation will require a substantial effort on the part of the regional offices for the identification of activities, setting priorities, programme and administrative support, and attention to regional and subregional dimensions. Cooperation between MDTs and with headquarters will need to be given greater attention. The experience of globalization and of regional and subregional economic integration suggests a growing need to take this dimension into account within the ILO's technical cooperation framework, both globally and in support of country-level action. Continued cooperation with the Turin Centre will also help to reinforce regional, global and country-level action.

31. The substantive priorities of the ILO's field activities, whether funded by the regular budget or from external sources, will need to be carefully balanced between tradition and innovation. Activities concerning ILO standards and those directly reflecting the ILO's tripartite structure will have to contain large elements similar to what is being pursued today, with some room for new approaches in the modalities of promotion and support. For example, trade unions can be supported in their efforts to improve the representation of the unemployed and the socially excluded. In other fields such as employment promotion, enterprise development and human resource development, the ILO's work is poorly known, despite a distinguished record. At the same time, these fields are undergoing rapid evolution in the face of technological change, market reforms, structural adjustment, globalization and subregional integration. The scope and the need for innovation is much greater.

32. Substantive priorities vary between and within the regions: in Africa the priority of priorities is economic growth and poverty eradication. Growth, however, cannot be sustained without strengthening fragile democracies and ensuring good governance. An important ILO contribution thus relates to the role of basic rights, and in particular freedom of association, in improving social dialogue and promoting social stability. It will also be important to strengthen the constituents in terms of their policy evaluation and development capacity and in terms of their practical action to ensure workers' protection. In Asia, the current financial crisis has led to renewed interest in ILO standards, tripartism and dialogue. It has also made obvious the lack of safety nets and social protection. Of course, the sudden slowing of growth means that employment promotion and training are top priorities. Even in countries that are less affected by the crisis, unemployment and poverty is a recurring theme, especially in South Asia where structural adjustment and privatization are important items on the economic policy agenda. In Latin America, economic integration is particularly advanced, and country objectives are increasingly established at subregional level. Inevitably, the ILO is expected to focus on the impact of such economic integration on labour. Also in Latin America, where the regulatory framework is especially strong, there is a need to examine how the protection of workers can best be reconciled with competitiveness. In the transition countries of Central and Eastern Europe much remains to be done in the priority areas of social security reforms, labour legislation, employment promotion, labour market policies and working conditions. Another priority area should be the promotion of independent and strong trade unions and employers' organizations and the promotion of collective bargaining, which guarantee the democratic functioning of labour relations.

33. The ILO's practical work on these substantive priorities will of course be based on support to the ILO's constituents. It is proposed to emphasize measures that will strengthen employers' and workers' organizations in dealing with the challenges of globalization and competitiveness, and which will improve their capacity to provide innovative services to their members. Governments (and in particular ministries of labour, social affairs and public service) should be supported in their traditional fields of action and be assisted in developing the new competencies required by their expanding role as social mediator. At the same time, the ILO's constituents should be helped to strengthen their capacity to work with new partners, as is already taking place with regard to organizations of rural workers and with NGOs, notably in the area of child labour. The Office itself needs to expand its relations, notably with local administrations and with regional and subregional organizations.

34. In addition to a process of continuous improvement that is already under way, there will be a need in 2000-2001 to draw upon the lessons of the last few years to take more basic steps to improve the ILO's structure and operations, in particular in the field. The number and profiles of specialists in the different MDTs require adjustment to better address the priorities of constituents. In some cases relocation or rearrangement of teams or offices should be envisaged. For example, the potential to combine the operations of area offices and MDTs has not yet been fully realized, and the regional offices need the capability to play a more active role in regional and subregional action. In addition, specific measures will ensure that headquarters' support to the APP is further strengthened, for example by greater capability to assign staff to important and urgent work, such as the ILO response to the current Asian financial crisis. This active involvement of headquarters will be complemented by better exchanges of information between MDTs in different regions. Both the Office's substantive work and its services to its constituents have much to gain from this process.

IV. Research and public relations

35. The ILO's relevance in the twenty-first century will largely depend on its capacity to analyse complex problems and emerging developments in labour and employment, and to communicate this analysis in authoritative and useful ways to its constituents and the wider public. This involves three components that deserve special attention. The first is research, which must be of the highest quality if the ILO's work is to merit attention. The second is relations with other international organizations, without which the ILO is isolated. Finally, publications and public information provide the means to give greater visibility to our output and our vision.

36. In assembling ideas on how the ILO can better perform its role as a centre of excellence and reference, the following points have been especially emphasized:

(a) Research and analysis

37. By the year 2000, further globalization and technological change will have magnified the impact that has already begun to be felt in labour markets across the world. Globalization will provide opportunities for higher growth and employment creation, but will at the same time generate new problems. The benefits of globalization will be spread unevenly both between and within nations, while a more integrated world economy is likely to be more vulnerable to the risk of major economic shocks, such as the current Asian crisis, which may have massive and far-reaching negative effects on employment. National economic and labour policies will have to cope with greater international economic competition and rapid technological change, the combined effects of which will result in greater labour mobility, the increasing prevalence of new forms of employment and work organization, growing polarization between skilled and unskilled workers, and a heightened tendency towards social exclusion.

38. The role of the State and the social partners will evolve rapidly. The scope and effectiveness of traditional regulatory policy instruments is likely to continue to decline. Institutional innovations will emphasize cost-effectiveness and increased reliance on partnerships between the public and private sectors. Governments will need to evolve policy measures, institutions and coalitions to cope with the demands of competitiveness, slackening job growth and a rise in job insecurity.

39. With the advent of the market as the fundamental global economic force, business and labour will move to the centre of policy and action. This will require employers' and workers' organizations to strengthen their capacity for social dialogue, expand the services they provide to their members, and expand their representation.

40. In such a challenging environment, the ILO will be faced with numerous demands and a constant danger of fragmentation and dilution of its efforts. The themes found below are an attempt to regroup the ILO's research work into a strategic framework. Once this framework has benefited from the guidance of the Governing Body, it can become the basis for more specific proposals at the next stage.

Promoting the growth of jobs and the quality of employment

41. The Social Summit placed equal importance on the objectives of more and better jobs. A major task for the ILO will be to further develop a policy framework that aims at the concurrent achievement of the two objectives. This would be based on the fact that international competitiveness in the global market depends crucially on the standards of products and production processes, which in turn are closely linked to the quality of jobs and human resources. Higher quantity and better quality of employment need not be seen as a trade-off, but may be regarded as complementary objectives for employment policy.

42. The policy framework will have to face questions such as the following: How is it possible to generate enough employment and income to satisfy the increasing labour supply? How can economic growth be made more employment-intensive? How can business investment be increased to absorb labour? Which employment indicators are best suited to monitoring trends in employment and underemployment? What is the future role of target-setting for employment goals (as recommended in the conclusions adopted by the International Labour Conference in 1996 and the European Union Employment Guidelines)? Should there be targets set for outputs (e.g. employment and unemployment) or for inputs (e.g. training)? How is it possible to promote more jobs and better jobs for women?

43. Employment generation depends to a crucial extent on a high and stable level of economic growth, a structure of incentives, and a regulatory environment that promotes the growth of enterprises. The ILO's work on employment will thus have to address issues of macroeconomic and structural policies for improved growth performance, as well as policies and programmes to maximize the rate of enterprise growth, especially that of small and medium enterprises. These issues will include the role that constructive social dialogue and democracy can make to social stability and economic growth.

Improving adaptability in employment and labour markets

44. Labour and business, regions and national economies clearly need to adapt and adjust to changing conditions of supply and demand in the labour and product markets. However, the debate on flexibility that prevailed in the 1980s and 1990s focused unduly on short-term considerations of workforce adjustments and labour-cost savings, risking human capital losses associated with these forms of adjustment. The expansion of casual and intermittent employment to gain flexibility in the size of the workforce created disincentives for firms to invest in their workforces. This weakened occupational flexibility, dynamic efficiency and worker-management cooperation, the prerequisites of higher productivity and innovation.

45. A more comprehensive notion of adaptability would emphasize the benefits of enhanced worker-management cooperation to expand the scope and means available to workers and enterprises to adapt to changing economic forces. Specifically, this will involve greater attention to positive measures such as increased investments in training and improved work organization and job design, including the organization of working time, as means of achieving greater adaptability. Such an approach will benefit both enterprises and workers; the former will enjoy enhanced competitiveness from greater flexibility and a more productive workforce, while the latter will reap benefits in the form of greater job satisfaction and employability. Another aspect of adaptability would be increased mobility for workers, for example through the portability of pensions and other employment-related benefits. This would also have the dual benefit of offering greater choice to workers and enhanced employability.

Fighting social exclusion and promoting social inclusion in the labour market

46. Discriminatory practices and persistent unemployment and underemployment have fuelled social exclusion, posing challenges to equity and efficiency. An ILO strategy to promote social inclusion in the labour market would need to combine policies for higher economic growth with targeted programmes to further the mainstreaming of disadvantaged and vulnerable workers. In line with the Copenhagen Declaration, the task of the ILO would be to demonstrate that the employment of these groups is not only a moral obligation, but can be economically beneficial. The identification of the economic and social costs of exclusion and discrimination would help to demonstrate the advantages of action. Targeted policies will be required to prevent the exclusion from the labour market of women, the low-skilled, minorities, the disabled and other disadvantaged groups. The ILO should continue to promote greater efforts and policy innovations to enhance the employability of disadvantaged groups and expand the employment opportunities available to them. This will require attention to a wide range of issues, such as targeted training, the reform of tax and benefits systems to improve incentives for the excluded to return to work and for enterprises to hire them, and the role of active labour market policies and employment subsidies.

The contribution of social dialogue to the design and implementation
of successful employment policy accompanied by adequate social protection

47. Some countries have recently succeeded in reducing unemployment without compromising conditions of work, social security or other quality standards. Such success has been facilitated by effective social dialogue at the national and local level. In particular, broad social pacts, involving a commitment to wage restraint and some labour market reforms on the part of trade unions in exchange for undertakings to boost employment creation on the part of governments and employers' organizations, have helped to achieve higher rates of non-inflationary growth and employment creation. Similarly negotiated agreements on working time have increased the operational flexibility of enterprises while also bringing working hours closer to workers' preferences. The ILO's work in the promotion of social dialogue on employment should also seek to forge new alliances directed at raising the level and quality of employment.

Innovative action on the informal sector

48. While the employment-generating potential of the informal sector is undoubted, questions have been raised about the quality of many informal sector jobs in terms of workers' fundamental rights, as well as working conditions, safety and health issues, and social protection. Although these questions have been discussed at length, the growth of the sector and the increased vulnerability of its workers warrant a fresh analysis addressing the implications of globalization, the situation of women, the potential for new forms of social protection, and the means of representing informal sector workers and employers. More specifically, the following questions need to be addressed: When the informal sector becomes the last resort for livelihoods, how can such jobs be made qualitatively acceptable? What kind of conceptual framework is needed to extend social protection to the informal sector? How would it be possible to extend both the coverage of employers' and workers' organizations to this segment of the economy and to ensure outreach to women workers? How can the risk of a lowered threshold of "acceptable" working conditions be countered?

The elimination of child labour

49. Despite radical changes in attitude and a growing commitment by governments, employers', workers' and non-governmental organizations, as well as the assistance provided by the ILO's International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), child labour continues to persist on a huge scale in many parts of the world. Millions of children continue to work in occupations and industries that are plainly dangerous and hazardous. Many governments still lack the capacity to effectively confront the problem. Intensified statistical work and research on the causes, implications and possible solutions to child labour, as well as its link to economic and social development policies, will support and reinforce practical activities against child labour in general, and its extreme forms in particular. This will help to ensure that the proposed new instruments on extreme forms of child labour to be adopted in 1999 are immediately ratified and effectively implemented. In order to benefit from the increased commitment of governments and major parts of civil society to the elimination of child labour, the ILO will specially assist member States in the design, implementation and monitoring of time-bound programmes of action against child labour, which would aim at ending child labour in a specific country, region or sector within an explicitly defined period of time.

Hazardous work

50. Hazardous working conditions pose a serious threat to the health and safety of workers in many parts of the world. Certain occupations and industries are intrinsically dangerous due to the materials and technologies they employ. In others, lack of respect for minimum standards and the absence of healthy industrial relations contribute to an environment where workplace fatalities, severe injuries, disease and disability continue to be tolerated, putting at risk the dignity and rights of workers, as well as their health and physical safety. Greater knowledge of the extent of industrial injuries and of the preventability of accidents and occupational illness would probably elicit calls for rapid action. Research on both the economic and social benefits of respecting minimum standards of safety and health would demonstrate the productive advantages of building an enterprise safety culture, and develop the means to address the most serious health and safety problems evident in the informal sector.

The prevention and peaceful settlement of labour disputes

51. Disputes are part of working life. One of the main concerns in industrial relations systems is knowing how to prevent and resolve them peacefully. This has become increasingly important in the last decade, and the existence of a harmonious labour environment that reconciles the need for enterprise efficiency and flexibility with the need for fairness and worker protection is increasingly recognized as a precondition for good performance by enterprises and the economy, as well as ensuring social stability. A major publication will review existing systems and practices relating to the prevention and settlement of disputes. This publication will examine the effects of changes in the workplace and the economic environment on the nature and frequency of labour disputes and the forms that they take, as well as the various methods, techniques and procedures used to prevent and resolve them.

(b) International relations

52. In order to promote the values for which it stands, the ILO must seek greater involvement, as well as greater visibility both at the international level and at the country level. The dual phenomena of post-cold war politics and the globalization of economic activity are compelling global society in general and the UN system in particular to address the issues of economic and social affairs, the role of the free market, and the importance of civil society. New international groupings are exercising an influence of increasing importance in the international arena; regional institutions (the EU, APEC, ASEAN, OAU, NAFTA, MERCOSUR and others) are defining new networks of trade and socio-economic cooperation; the global financial institutions of Bretton Woods, and now also the WTO, are trying to respond to the changing circumstances of financial and economic interdependence; and civil society is emerging as a new reality at the international level, bringing non-governmental organizations and the private sector into the dynamics of the reform process.

53. In this context, the ILO should make a contribution based on its values and its expertise in the principal domains of its mandate:

54. In pursuing this strategy, the ILO should participate actively in the fundamental debate on the social dimension of the globalization process; reinforce its cooperation with other international organizations with due regard to the orientations of the decision-making bodies of the ILO; and be more closely involved in inter-agency negotiations both on substantive issues and on questions of structure.

(c) Public relations and information

55. In recent years much has been done to improve the ILO's public information services. Its media relations services have placed a greater emphasis on the ILO's concerns and activities and on highlighting newsworthy issues involving the ILO, through the development and refocusing of the production of audio-visual materials, and by transforming the ILO's magazine, World of Work into an attractive, modern communication tool aimed at those with an active interest in social and labour issues. The Governing Body supported the implementation of a new publications policy which concentrates on the dissemination of high-quality publications on subjects relating to the ILO's core mandate and priorities. Electronic means of publishing and disseminating key ILO databases are also being developed. Finally, the ILO is attempting to reach out to targeted audiences in a more comprehensive way through a public relations programme at the international and national levels. Greater efforts will be devoted to building media-oriented and public relations activities in the workplans of both technical departments at headquarters and of country offices and multidisciplinary teams in the field.

56. The development of electronic media, and particularly the Internet worldwide, is increasing the dynamic flow of requests for information and the possibilities of disseminating this information. The ILO library is playing an important role in receiving and processing requests for information from ILO constituents, the multidisciplinary teams in the regions, technical departments, and the public at large. By the same token, the ILO's capacity to reply to requests for information will be enhanced by the potential for dissemination through the Internet, and especially through the development of electronic databases and electronic publishing facilities.

V. Service and support activities

57. The service and support activities of the ILO are essential to the provision of products and services to ILO constituents. In recent biennia a major effort has been made in all the departments concerned to reduce overhead costs, to simplify procedures, and to apply modern computer-based technologies to realize productivity gains. Further efforts will be made in preparing the detailed proposals for the biennium 2000-2001 in order to identify economies and ways of improving efficiency. However, in the Director-General's view, further major economies should not be anticipated, as they would prejudice services to constituents, the financial integrity of the Organization, and effective personnel administration.

58. Personnel policy and human resource development will continue to enjoy high priority, and the major objectives set out in the Programme and Budget for 1998-99 will remain valid: high-quality and timely staffing; an effective training programme; policies and practices that are fair and equitable and respect of the Staff Regulations; the efficient management of entitlements; and effective information dissemination to ILO staff. It is anticipated that the PERSIS computerization project will be completed in the biennium 2000-2001, one of the final steps being the provision of access to the system by ILO field offices.

59. The new procedures for recruitment, classification and performance management put in place for the biennium 1998-99 are expected to be associated in the biennium 2000-2001 with an enhanced system of career development and training in which both staff members and managers are key players. Work is envisaged during the biennium to simplify and clarify the Staff Regulations in order to reduce the causes of internal grievances through a better understanding of line managers and officials of their obligations and their rights.

60. Apart from recurrent activities relating to budgetary, financial and accounting operations, the ILO's financial services face two major challenges: the decentralization of financial administration, in a controlled fashion, to external offices; and the very pressing need to upgrade the computerized financial systems. Approximate indications received from other UN agencies suggest that the design, development and implementation of upgraded financial systems would cost some $15 million, it being understood that such an investment would be spread over several biennia and produce systems useful to the Organization over several decades. This is a major problem area to which both the Office and the Governing Body will need to give further consideration in the course of the programming cycle for the biennium 2000-2001.

61. The biennium 2000-2001 will witness a concentration of systems development activity in the ILO in two areas; the upgrading of the ILO electronic information network, which has to be modernized to ensure compatibility with the technology now on the market; and the installation of an overall electronic document management and archival system. The Office will be turned into an information warehouse offering increased access for ILO constituents and the public at large. These developmental activities will of course have to be carried out hand-in-hand with the recurrent activities required to maintain existing systems.

62. Considerable savings were realized in the biennium 1996-97, and again in the biennium 1998-99, through the incorporation into the department responsible for the organization of ILO meetings of all operations relating to the production, translation and distribution of ILO documents. These economies have been achieved through the reorganization of existing staff and a number of measures to apply the most modern technologies available. These include, for example, electronic dictionaries and more on-line use of the Internet for the purpose of communication between offices; a pilot experiment has also been carried out on computer-assisted translation, which may in the long term have significant effects on productivity for certain types of documents. The scope for further progress in all these directions will be examined in preparing detailed proposals for the next biennium. However, in view of the economies already achieved, it is unlikely that very significant further savings are conceivable in the immediate future.

VI. Strategic planning and management

63. Two areas of the strategic planning process continue to give rise to requests from the Governing Body for improvement. The first is that the presentation of the Programme and Budget itself should be clearer, more readily comprehensible, and more transparent. A form of presentation along these lines is suggested in the Appendix.

64. The second is the evaluation of the Office's activities. This is carried out in various ways at different levels within the Office structure and by the Organization's policy-making bodies. The generalized application of the Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting System (MERS) to the entire planning, management and evaluation process and to all Office activities since 1 January 1998 is a factor that will be decisive for the quality of the evaluation process, as the problems and needs addressed will be stated clearly. Objectives -- solutions to problems and responses to needs -- will be formulated in precise and verifiable terms; indicators of achievement will describe the changes that this work is expected to produce; and finally, the outputs will be clearly indicated. Evaluation is first concerned with the relevance of the activities undertaken, that is, its usefulness in relation to the problems and needs addressed; it then looks at their effectiveness by verifying to what extent the objectives have been attained and whether the results are lasting. Finally, it ensures that operations are efficient, that is, that resources are put to optimal use.

65. The Director-General proposes to verify systematically that internal evaluation is practised regularly and rigorously, that thematic evaluations of programmes are documented and are readily accessible within the Office and to members of the Governing Body. Furthermore, he proposes that the Governing Body should carry out during each biennium a tripartite evaluation of a particular policy or programme of its choice and that the appropriate resources should be earmarked for this.

66. A strategic move of this type to management by objectives means a decompartmentalized Office in which the implementation of programmes and projects is much more flexible, organized in terms of the objectives to be attained, and organized around a structure comprised of the most appropriate services and departments. Such a change means, first and foremost, changes in general management, as the excessive number of staff in the management structures is a source of both needless expense and losses of productivity, and it complicates the rational distribution of tasks and responsibilities. From this viewpoint, four general management functions can be defined. The first three relate to the three fundamental missions of the ILO. Each member of the general management would be assigned clear responsibilities corresponding to precise objectives and a clear sphere of competence. Each would then be responsible for achieving the objectives fixed by the Governing Body, within a corporate framework and under the authority and overall responsibility of the Director-General. The fourth function would be the responsibility for administrative management of the Office. As the term of office of the holders of general management responsibilities expires during the biennium, this is the time to look at reorganization along these lines.

VII. General financial indications

67. The Director-General proposes that the Programme and Budget proposals for the biennium 2000-2001 remain, in real terms, at least at the level of that adopted by the Conference for the biennium 1998-99.

VIII. Programme of meetings

68. Apart from the two sessions of the International Labour Conference to be held in the course of the biennium, it is envisaged to propose the organization of two regional meetings, for the European and the Asian and Pacific regions in 2000 and 2001 respectively. As decided by the Governing Body at its 270th Session (November 1997), the proposals for the International Labour Conference will contain provision for the in-session production of the Provisional Record, although it is hoped to offset this additional cost by savings identified since the Programme and Budget for 1998-99 was finalized. In principle, provision will also be made for 12 sectoral and some ten technical meetings.

69. In view of the importance of proving effective to the ILO's Members in helping create more and better jobs, and of projecting that image in the international community, it is proposed, in addition to the substantive work outlined in sections III and IV above, to organize a World Employment Conference during the year 2000. This Conference would be the ILO's major contribution to the five-year review of the World Summit for Social Development. Preparations for this event will involve, apart from the Office's own substantive work, close cooperation with the relevant academic and other research institutions. A number of international and regional organizations particularly concerned with issues of globalization and employment will be invited to participate in the Conference itself.

Geneva, 4 February 1998.

1. GB.271/TC/1.

Appendix

Presentation of the Programme and Budget
proposals for 2000-2001

1. The proposed presentation is based on the requests made by the Governing Body at its 268th Session (March 1997).

2. The proposals and the Programme and Budget itself would be presented in two parts, if not in two separate volumes.

3. The first part would provide a concise description of the main strategic orientations underlying the preparation of the programme. It would also set out the overall characteristics of the programme and would give explanatory data in the form of tables and graphs. More specifically, it would include:

4. The second part would correspond to the Programme and Budget in its current analytical form. A particular effort would be made to present, for each programme, a clear description of the --

This information should help considerably to provide greater transparency in the implementation of programmes and in the evaluation of their results.

1. GB.271/TC/1.


Updated by VC. Approved by NdW. Last update: 26 January 2000.

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