THE 340th Session of the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Governing Body began on Monday, November 2, 2020 and will last till 13th November 2020, says the Geneva-based tripartite organisation of the United Nations.
According to the ILO, the about two weeks meeting will be the first to take place this year, and the first to be held as an essentially virtual event, with sessions involving Governing Board members from all regions. “In view of the current COVID-19 situation and following the safety and health risk assessment undertaken by the Office for the Governing Body, all group meetings and plenary sittings of the 340th Session will be held through the Zoom platform,” the stated in a message posted on its website.
In addition to the plenary, there would be five would be meetings of five sections of the Governing Body which include Institutional Section, Policy Development Section, Legal Issues and International Labour Standards Section, Programme, Financial and Administrative Section; and High-Level Section.
Institutional Section (INS): handles matters related to the functioning of the Office and of the Organisation, including constitutional obligations. It encompasses a number of standing items such as reports of the Committee on Freedom of Association, annual reports under the follow-up to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, the agenda of the International Labour Conference, representations under article 24 of the Constitution, and complaints under article 26 of the Constitution; institutional issues relating to ILO organized meetings; and urgent matters arising between or during sessions.
Policy Development Section (POL); considers ILO policies and activities in the fields of employment, training, enterprise development and cooperatives, working and employment conditions and environment, social security and promotion of equality between men and women in employment (Employment and Social Protection Segment); the effect given to the Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy (Multinational Enterprises Segment); social dialogue and industrial relations, such as appertaining to labour law, labour administration and labour inspection, as well as the planning, preparation and follow-up and other policy issues relating to ILO sectoral and technical meetings (Social Dialogue Segment), and matters relating to ILO development cooperation programmes (Development Cooperation Segment).
Legal Issues and International Labour Standards Section (LILS);considers matters relating to the ILO Constitution; the different Standing Orders; the status of the ILO in member States; legal agreements concluded by the ILO with other international organizations; and any legal aspects of institutional issues (Legal Issues Segment); as well as matters relating to the ILO’s standards-related activities, , including the approval of report forms for ILO Conventions and Recommendations and the selection of instruments for article 19 reporting, and action relating to the protection of human rights (International Labour Standards and Human Rights Segment).
Programme, Financial and Administrative Section (PFA); the PFA section examines programme and budget proposals and programme implementation, other budgetary estimates and Office expenditure and reviews financial and administrative matters, including matters concerning the ILO premises, matters relating to information and communication technology (Programme, Financial and Administrative Segment); audit, evaluation and oversight reports, including the report of the Governing Body’s Independent Oversight Advisory Committee (IOAC) (Audit and Oversight Segment); and human resources matters and issues relating to the ILO Administrative Tribunal (Personnel Segment).
High-Level Section (HL); provides a forum for discussing issues of high strategic importance for the ILO either in the framework of the Strategic Policy Segment or the Working Party on the Social Dimension of Globalization, which enables representatives of governments that are not represented in the Governing Body to participate in the debate with a more flexible approach to conduct the discussion. It is a forum intended to attract high-level participation from constituents and invited organizations. It meets on a need basis.
