International Labour Organization
Member profile
The International Labour Organization (ILO), based in Geneva, became the first specialized agency of the UN. It was founded in 1919, in response to a destructive war, to pursue a vision based on the premise that universal, lasting peace can be established only if it is based upon decent treatment of the workers. ILO is devoted to advancing opportunities for women and men to obtain productive work in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity. Its main aims are to promote rights at work, encourage decent employment opportunities, enhance social protection and strengthen dialogue in handling work-related issues.
Main activities
The ILO is the global body responsible for drawing up and overseeing international labor standards and for ensuring that these standards are respected in practice and principle. The member States of the ILO meet at the International Labour Conference in June of each year. Employer and worker delegates can freely express themselves and vote according to instructions received from their organizations. They sometimes vote against each other or even against their government representatives. The Conference establishes and adopts international labor standards and is a forum for discussion of key social and labor questions. It also adopts the Organization's budget and elects the Governing Body.
Links to the health workforce crisis
The ILO promotes the development of independent employers and worker organizations and provides relevant training and advisory services. Its technical assistance includes fields such as
- Vocational training and vocational rehabilitation;
- Employment policy and social security;
- Labor administration and statistics;
- Labor law and industrial relations;
- Working conditions and cooperatives; and
- Management development.
Call for knowledge information:
Alliance Members are invited to submit any relevant knowledge products such as documents, reports, tools, multimedia, links to specific project web sites by sending an email to ghwa@who.int. The Alliance Secretariat will publish relevant products on the Member's page.
Visit our Knowledge centre.
