ILO Director-General opening address to the 353rd Governing Body

Mr Chairperson of the Governing Body, Ambassador Seong Deok Yun,

Madam Vice-Chairperson Renate Hornung-Draus,

Madam Vice-Chairperson Catelene Passchier,

Distinguished Members of the Governing Body,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Welcome to this 353rd Session of the Governing Body of the International Labour Organization.

I am sure you will agree with me that we are gathering at a crucial moment, a moment in which the landscape for multilateralism is changing significantly and rapidly. Moments like these call for us to dig deep and reflect rigorously – with humility, with foresight and also with courage.

I feel duty bound to underscore that the changes to the contemporary geopolitical landscape are many and multipolar. To reduce them to any single factor or any single country would be a mistake, a mistake causing us to miss the significant directional trends that we are witnessing. The changes range from domestic instability to growing trade tensions, alongside shifting foreign policy priorities. Economic instability – triggered by a range of factors including environmental and financial crises – alongside escalating defence spending, all of that increases pressure on national budgets that may force reprioritizations.

Indeed, we are forced to recognize that in some cases, it is the post-World War II rule-based international system that is called into question, and with it, the legitimacy of international law. It is not an overstatement to affirm that in the current world moment, challenges to multilateralism have become foundational.

And these are of course only some of the trends. Without pretending to be exhaustive, what I seek also to stress is that the current geopolitical situation cannot be separated from the deep levels of discontent expressed in manifold ways by working people across the globe. And we know this: despite measurable economic growth worldwide, levels of inequality are on the rise, and social protection remains fragile. It should concern us that working people, struggling to stay afloat, sense that global integration has not yet become that rising tide that lifts all boats…

And you might say on the one hand, it is not a surprise that some major donors have called into question their existing official development assistance (ODA) levels. And let us make no mistake: all Members call for us, they call upon multilateral organizations like the ILO to be more accountable for the effective and efficient delivery of our mandate.

On the other hand, we at the ILO also affirm this from our 1919 Constitution: that where conditions of labour exist that involve such injustice, hardship and privation to large numbers of people as to produce unrest so great that the peace and harmony of the world are imperilled, well, improvement of those conditions is urgently required.

To avoid any misgivings, allow me to affirm our core mandate, which is also our comparative institutional advantage. Our framework of ambitious yet realistic international labour standards, including the fundamental principles and rights at work, has served as a global safeguard against poor labour practices in the world. This normative framework provides stability, strengthened productivity and economic performance. It is our guide. The supervisory mechanisms function in a rigorous, impartial manner to promote compliance, and are also coupled with timely, tailored technical assistance. Moreover, the Office has time and again demonstrated the capacity to produce judicious, evidence-based research and analysis to fulfil our constitutional responsibility to ensure that a country’s respect for decent working conditions would not result in a competitive disadvantage.

We also know our distinctive and enduring way of approaching matters, by actively promoting and fostering strong, representative and influential tripartite constituents and effective social dialogue. Allow me to urge all of us to marshal this distinctiveness as a further source of institutional strength.

So, I have reiterated the abiding centrality of our mandate as we navigate this decisive world moment in keeping with our 1919 Constitution, which proclaims that “the failure of any nation to adopt humane conditions of labour is an obstacle in the way of other nations which desire to improve the conditions in their own countries.” We will and we shall continue to stand up for social justice.

So, what then does this moment require of us, of this one body? For one thing, we must not rest on our laurels. The changing context brings risks, challenges and opportunities and we must face them. I would suggest that it requires the institutional courage to explore ways to be significantly more responsive, closer to our constituents, and ultimately, more efficient. We cannot afford to operate out of habit. It is for this reason that the Office is actively reflecting on both the programmatic and operational dimensions of our work.

Admittedly, this opening address is not quite the forum, but I feel it necessary to give you a glimpse of what I mean. While I reaffirm the strategic importance and privilege associated with having our headquarters in Geneva, I am asking myself, have we done enough to sensibly relocate carefully-selected services and expertise into the regions, closer to our constituents and with lower cost of living?

In this same vein, have we done enough to optimize subleasing office space at headquarters here in Geneva, even though this might entail change that includes flexible working arrangements and implementing a new way of feeling about our offices, moving from entitlement towards a policy of unallocated workstations?

Do we still need all the representation offices that we have – of course I am making the difference between country offices and representation offices – that we have today, particularly in countries where our technical expertise may be less called upon?

All of these have some political dimensions, some sensitivities. Only when we will have the courage not to see an option as a taboo will we be able to identify ways for us to move in the right direction. Again, these examples are far from complete but are meant to give a flavour of the institutional thinking the Office expects to undertake. The invitation to reflection will invariably anticipate possible gaps in resources and seek sustainable ways to do more with less. But we should guard against the temptation to fatalistically preside over a race to the bottom. Rather, the Office invites Governing Body members to guide our institutional introspection, in the short and medium term, as an exercise in institutional responsibility.  The Office is determined to do its part, but we do need you, individual Governing Body members, groups and subgroups. How can our comparative institutional advantage best be preserved and supported? We welcome your collective wisdom, and we would like to encourage your creativity, both on sustainable financing options as well as on potential measures to promote viable efficiency gains. And please understand this for what it is: a serious endeavour to be proactive, and a sign of respect both for our mandate, and for our membership.

Let me now turn to staffing matters. Given the stop orders received recently regarding several of our development cooperation projects, the Office responded with fiscal prudence while applying our human-centred approach internally. We suspended programmes, we placed concerned staff members on special leave with full pay, while conducting good faith internal project reviews, and concluded that, to the best of our professional judgment, with appropriate adjustments, in some project activities we were able to bring many affected staff back to work pending any further developments. As of Saturday, 8 March 2025, nine projects have been authorized to resume after they had been reviewed, but eight others have been terminated. It goes without saying that, painfully, a total of 34 staff have been terminated or have not been renewed.

It is also appropriate to acknowledge in this moment that the ILO continues to be active on the ground in both Gaza and the West Bank, resuming our emergency employment programme and labour market recovery initiative. We continue to work closely with Palestinian constituents and international partners in the region, to promote a sustainable, humancentred recovery. We have to continue our quest for opportunities for the ILO to contribute to long-lasting peace, security and dignity in the region with increased support to workers and local small and medium-sized enterprises.

I am also deeply concerned about the ongoing crisis in Sudan and South Sudan. Particularly in Sudan, last month we reactivated our projects on inclusive jobs and education for forcibly displaced persons. I would also like to acknowledge the dire situations in several other parts of the world, including the Syrian Arab Republic, Haiti, Lebanon, Ukraine, and other countries, and I am looking forward to the discussion that we will have following up on our activities in Lebanon and Ukraine.

Please allow me, finally, to offer two key comments on the proposed Programme and Budget for 2026–27 as a prelude to the upcoming discussions this afternoon.

I will cut directly to the chase. I am most alive to the challenge at this crucial juncture of proposing a 0.4 per cent increase. I am also very well aware that many of you are expecting to retain a net zero real growth, and some are rather considering a zero nominal growth. I hear you and welcome your comments. As you consider this programme and budget, ultimately I want to call on your sense of pragmatism.

And it is on this note that I wish to engage right from the outset of our discussions with the second core issue on the programme and budget, on an issue that must not be allowed to overshadow our broad and critical work during this Governing Body session.

Of course, I am alluding to the language pertaining to the ground of “sexual orientation and gender identity” (SOGI). As you will know, during the March 2023 session of the Governing Body and the ensuing session of the International Labour Conference, I issued a plea, to ensure that two years down the road we would not find ourselves in the same situation as we did then.  I am very concerned that the situation might unfortunately repeat itself. We are doing our very best to ensure that we can have a group of Ambassadors from all regions to try to iron out a position when it comes to the Government Group, which would then be presented to the whole Governing Body for consideration.

Before ending this address, let me express how pleased I am to shine a spotlight on the Second World Summit for Social Development, planned to take place in Qatar in November as in two days from now, the Governing Body will have the opportunity to exchange with co-facilitators of the intergovernmental process leading up to the summit. We look forward both to the exchange on the food-for-thought paper, and Governing Body members’ decision on the draft Conference resolution concerning the Summit.

Let me now conclude with a somewhat counter-intuitive but altogether necessary reminder: the ILO’s mandate cannot be achieved by the ILO alone. Our mandate requires all of us. And in this vein, I really want to thank you for your support with regard to the Global Coalition for Social Justice, as it moves from commitment to implementation, to fulfil the ILO’s mandate.

I thank you.