GB.277/7 |
SEVENTH ITEM ON THE AGENDA
Consideration of the Director-General’s
report on the situation of workers of
the occupied Arab territories at the
88th (2000) Session of the International Labour Conference
1. At its 276th (November 1999) Session, the Governing Body had before it a draft resolution submitted by the Arab regular members of the Governing Body in accordance with article 15 of the Standing Orders of the Governing Body, the text of which is reproduced as Appendix I. [1]
2. The draft resolution requested the Director-General to include an item on the agenda of the 277th Session (March 2000) of the Governing Body in order to prepare proposals for submission to the International Labour Conference at its 88th Session (2000) with a view to holding a special sitting of the Conference for the consideration of the Director-General’s report on the situation of workers of the occupied Arab territories, including the implementation of the ILO Plan of Action.
3. It was decided that an item would be placed on the agenda of the 277th Session (March 2000) of the Governing Body for its consideration.
4. The legal framework applicable to such a sitting has been explained in previous documents. [2] While article 12 of the Standing Orders of the Conference provides for the Report of the Director-General to be discussed in plenary, it was found possible to refer the part of the report on the situation of workers of the occupied Arab territories to a special sitting of the Conference provided that certain conditions were met, namely:
(a) that no resolution would be submitted on the same subject to the same session of the International Labour Conference;
(b) that there was a consensus on the matter in the Selection Committee of the Conference;
(c) that no discussion of the subject would take place at the Conference outside the special sitting. The procedure followed regarding the holding of a special sitting at the Conference is set out in more detail in the document appearing in Appendix II.
5. It should be recalled that one of the conditions considered necessary for the adoption of a decision by the Governing Body to make a proposal for the Conference to hold such a special sitting is that a consensus must be reached. Such a consensus was reached until the 262nd Session (March-April 1995) of the Governing Body, when it was felt, in view of the prevailing conditions at the time, that the Conference of 1995 would be the last occasion on which such a special sitting would be held. However, the Governing Body again decided at its 271st (March 1998) and 274th (March 1999) Sessions to submit proposals to the 86th (1998) and 87th (1999) Sessions of the Conference, respectively, to hold a special sitting for the consideration of the Director-General’s report on the situation of workers of the occupied Arab territories.
6. The Governing Body may therefore wish to determine whether the conditions that formed the basis of the decisions taken in 1998 and 1999 and between 1990 and 1995 [3] for the holding of a special sitting of the International Labour Conference for the consideration of the Director-General’s report on the situation of workers of the occupied Arab territories are again met.
7. More specifically, the Governing Body may wish:
(a) to take a decision on the proposal for the holding of a special sitting for the consideration of the Director-General’s report on the situation of workers of the occupied Arab territories at the 88th Session (2000) of the Conference;
(b) if it decides in favour of that proposal, to invite the Director-General to submit to the Selection Committee proposals relating to the holding of a special sitting at the 88th Session (June 2000) of the International Labour Conference for the consideration of his report on the situation of workers of the occupied Arab territories, based on arrangements approved at the 87th Session (June 1999) of the Conference (Appendix II), subject to the conditions mentioned in paragraph 4 above and to any further changes or additions that might be made thereto in the light of the Governing Body’s discussion.
Geneva, 21 January 2000. |
|
Paragraph 7. |
Appendix I
Draft resolution submitted by the Arab
regular members [4] of the Governing
Body
in accordance with article 15 of the Standing
Orders of the Governing Body, relating to the
second report of the Committee on Legal
Issues and International Labour Standards
at the 276th Session (November 1999) of
the Governing Body
The Governing Body of the International Labour Office,
Noting with satisfaction the efforts made by the Director-General to give effect to the resolution adopted by the International Labour Conference in 1980 concerning the situation of Arab workers in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories, including the implementation of the ILO Plan of Action (drawn up by the multidisciplinary mission in 1993: “Report on capacity building for social development: A programme of action for transition in the occupied Palestinian territories”);
Decides to request the Director-General to include an item on the agenda of the 277th Session (March 2000) of the Governing Body in order to prepare proposals for submission to the International Labour Conference at its 88th Session (June 2000) with a view to the holding of a special sitting of the Conference to examine the annual report of the Director-General on the situation of Arab workers in Palestine and in the other occupied Arab territories, including an examination of the implementation of the above ILO Plan of Action.
Geneva, 16 November 1999.
Appendix II
[CP/D.2 – supplied separately.]
[1] GB.276/D.1.
[2] GB.271/7; GB.262/6; GB.259/6/3; GB.255/3/3, paras. 4-10; GB.255/PV(Rev.), pp. VII/1-6.
[3] Special sittings were held at the 77th (1990), 78th (1991), 79th (1992), 80th (1993), 81st (1994), 82nd (1995), 86th (1998) and 87th (1999) Sessions of the Conference. No special sitting was held at the 83rd (1996) or 85th (1997) Sessions. The 84th Session (1996) was a Maritime Session of the Conference.
[4] Government members: Algeria, Saudi Arabia; Employer members: Mr. Dahlan, Mr. M’Kaissi; Worker member: Mr. Sahbani.
Updated by HK. Approved by NdW. Last update: 25 February 2000.