| GB.267/8/3
267th Session Geneva, November 1996 |
EIGHTH ITEM ON THE AGENDA
Reports of the Programme, Financial and
Administrative Committee
Third report: Preparation of the Programme and Budget
proposals for 1998-99
1. The Programme, Financial and Administrative Committee of the Governing Body met on 13 and 14 November 1996 under the joint chairmanship of Mr. J.-J. Oechslin and Mr. W. Brett. Mr. C. Gray (Workers' spokesman) was the Reporter.
Preparation of the Programme and Budget proposals for 1998-99
(Eighth item on the agenda)
Introduction
2. The Committee had before it a paper(1) providing information for the preparation of the Programme and Budget proposals for 1998-99.
3. Mr. Oechslin, speaking on behalf of the Employer members, stated that the reason for having a preliminary discussion on the 1988-99 Programme and Budget proposals was to help the Director-General to present a range of choices. The Employers would classify their priorities into activities which were relevant today and were foreseen for the 1998-99 budget, necessary activities which were ongoing, and those that were of less importance. This type of classification would permit the Committee to know, depending on the final level of the approved budget, whether only priority items or also those which were necessary and useful, could be accommodated.
4. For the Employer members there were two priorities, the first of which followed on from the Copenhagen Summit. Here the Committee was faced with the problem of the definition and the promotion of workers' fundamental rights in the now familiar context of globalization. During 1998-99, there would be a debate on a new instrument on child labour and the issues that were currently being discussed in the Committee on Legal Issues and International Labour Standards should be implemented in the course of the next biennium, and the activities decided on should have a solid practical dimension to them. The ILO should also make its activities more visible; much work was being accomplished, for example in freedom of association, but the public was unaware of what was being done. In this context the ILO should concentrate its efforts on the essentials, that is the most serious or unacceptable violations of principles identified.
5. The second priority of the Employer members was the creation of jobs and the role to be played by enterprises. A recommendation on this subject was to be drafted during the current biennium and it was necessary for the ILO to give effect to it and prepare for its application. An enterprise policy was needed as an element of the ILO employment strategy and thus it would be necessary to have a second Enterprise Forum. The first Forum had been a great success and the Employer members wished the Director-General to thank all those, at all levels, who had contributed to its success. As the Director-General had said, it was important to have a wide participation in these debates. The ILO had to achieve consensus on the subjects to be treated by the Forum and the form it should take. For employment creation in enterprises it was necessary to develop both a favourable climate for productive investment and training possibilities. The Employer members attached great importance to training which was a more immediate responsibility of the ILO, and which concerned the Turin Centre. However there were also other aspects to be considered, such as the legal framework of work, which had to be modernized, and measures linked to an active employment policy. Employer members would have contributions to make on these elements.
6. On the necessary programmes, one of the priorities for the Organization was the development of the capacity of constituents to respond to demand for their services. Unfortunately, at present there were insufficient human resources available to the Bureau for Employers' Activities, mainly in Geneva, to meet increased demand for development and technical cooperation services. Improvements had been made, but there was still much to do to attain the same level of services as those available to workers' organizations. Other priorities were the modernization of standard-setting activities and the rationalization of the regional network, although this should not be to the detriment of technical expertise at headquarters. Employer members wanted to ensure that the level of competence and excellence in the ILO's technical services at headquarters was high so that ILO technical services dealing with labour and employment questions could re-establish their competence and international recognition. The Office should also take measures to make full use of existing modern methods of data collection and continue the rationalization of the main activities of the ILO without affecting the quality of its services. It would also be necessary to review some of the Governing Body's working methods which were still unsatisfactory. These comments covered the priority and necessary activities.
7. There were three other points which deserved mention, subject to certain conditions. The first concerned the reform of social security systems, many of which were in difficulty or even insolvent in several countries. The reforms being proposed should be flexible, even unorthodox, in order to tackle the greatest current problem, that of financing. The second item was safety at work. The Employer members were conscious of the importance of the ILO's role in promoting safety and health in the workplace, probably one of its flagship activities, but many changes were now taking place in this field. In addition to the regulatory and inspection measures which were predominant in the past and which were still useful, there were now other more recent trends such as voluntary initiatives including the concept of "responsible care". Thirdly, paragraphs 21 and 22 of the Office paper proposed activities to allow regions to create conditions favourable to investment and industrial development. The subject in itself was interesting but again the ILO should not be dogmatic in its proposals on the freedom and control of enterprises. There was no need to list the least attractive proposals, for example that dealing with bio-genetic problems, which were more relevant to other organizations.
8. The Employers would like some information on why the activities of the International Institute of Social Studies were not mentioned in the paper, particularly in view of the role it could play in research work, and they wondered whether the Office was making the best use of modern communications technology. Translation work was one example where the latest technology could be used to great advantage and the Office should be exploring these possibilities more vigorously. The second part of the document contained a long list of action programmes, technical meetings and research topics. The Employers would return to these lists later to give their list of priorities.
9. Mr Gray, speaking on behalf of the Worker members, said that the Office paper responded well to the request made by the Governing Body in March 1996 and it gave substance to strategic priorities identified at that time, as well as information on significant resource shifts and proposed modifications in the Office structures. The document also provided the basis for the Governing Body to make choices on action programmes in particular and on meetings and research topics, and underlined the value of debate on the new programme and budgeting process, which the Workers felt should be maintained in future biennia.
10. The Worker members considered that the first part of the document accurately reflected the general feeling of the Governing Body at the preliminary debate in March 1996. There was no difficulty in accepting the retention of the three major objectives already in place for the current biennium: democracy and human rights, employment in combating poverty, and protection of working people. Nor would they have any objections in principle to the three basic orientations set out in paragraph 5: making the ILO a centre of excellence and reference, a focus in matters of workers' rights and an organization offering services to all constituents.
11. The Director-General had identified some nine items behind those priorities and this was a good starting-point for discussion on the programme and budget proposals. There was no need at this stage to enter into the details of the financial difficulties facing governments. The ILO, as the Director-General had pointed out in March 1996, needed more resources because it had been stuck on zero growth for a long period during which the demands made on the Office had grown enormously. However, the Worker members were unhappy with the reaffirmation of the intention to continue on the path of zero real growth as compared to the Programme and Budget for 1996-97. After taking into account the $21.7 million cuts made the year before, this was equivalent to a 3.75 per cent real cut, or something like zero nominal growth. This was a significant effort in responding to the concern and difficulties of governments. A firm decision of principle should be taken at this session to agree on the budget level proposed in the document and this matter should not be brought up again at the March Governing Body session nor at the 1997 International Labour Conference.
12. The Workers recalled the Director-General's statement that the proposals would take into consideration the desire expressed repeatedly by the Governing Body for a continuation of efforts towards reform, all designed to enhance the ILO's visibility, credibility, efficiency and effectiveness. It was not clear to the Worker members how this claim could be sustained. There was reference to restructuring in the Office in the three operative programme areas, reference to possible further reform of the Conference and Governing Body, an explanation of shifts in resource distribution reflecting a continued flow of resources from Geneva to the field, some economies in support services and further reduction in fixed staff costs. However, this constituted a continuation of already observable trends rather than a concerted effort at reform.
13. It would be useful to look at the three specific areas of restructuring proposed by the Director-General. The first was the transformation of the Equality and Human Rights Coordination Branch of the Standards Department into one concerned with fundamental rights and protection of minorities. As there was no explanation provided as to what this actually meant other than a change of name, the Worker members requested further details, in March 1997, of what was intended before giving a definitive answer. The reference to fundamental rights overlooked their serious concern that the Freedom of Association Branch must remain untouched. The Worker members did not agree with the Employers' comment about redefining and promoting workers' fundamental rights; the definitions existed and these could be promoted but certainly not redefined. Secondly, the creation of a new industrial relations branch, as proposed in paragraph 20, raised questions as it seemed odd to propose setting up such a branch in an existing department entitled the Industrial Relations and Labour Administration Department. However, if the intention was to make a major upgrade of the ILO's capacities and expertise in the field then that was a much-needed effort to advance the centre-of-excellence goal in a key area, and Worker members would support the idea, pending further detailed proposals. The final point on restructuring concerned the integration of an expanded multinational unit as a distinct branch within the Enterprise Department. The Worker members felt that it was appropriate to have a branch which would give them a voice they did not currently have on enterprise matters, and it should be a truly tripartite branch instead of one oriented almost entirely to the needs and interests of employers. The proposed integration could be a means of bringing about the desired change and they would be ready to give it favourable consideration on the basis of more detailed proposals in March 1997.
14. In connection with the shift in resources in the last part of the document, the Worker members would like clarifications on how 12.5 per cent savings in general policy-making organs were to be generated and asked whether this indicated more reforms related to the Conference or Governing Body or other measures. The total increase in the percentage of resources for operational programmes from 55.8 per cent to 57.4 per cent was a modest but welcome change and reflected a reduction in support service costs. However, more significant was the shift within the operational programme budget from headquarters to the field through the transfer of 20 per cent of the Geneva RBTC allocations to the field. In principle the Workers had no objections to such a shift but would insist on the need for absolute accountability in the use of RBTC funds: at present the Governing Body had no way of knowing how such resources were allocated and the annual reports to the Committee on Technical Cooperation did not adequately meet this need.
15. The last three paragraphs of the document gave ominous indications of further job cuts, especially in Geneva, and the Worker members wanted to know if the Director-General intended to propose specific staff reductions or transfers in his March 1997 proposals or whether he might set medium-term targets. In paragraph 68, the paper showed that substantial staff transfers out of Geneva had taken place over the past six years and the Workers were concerned that other measures taken to reach the centre-of-excellence goals would be undermined by the erosion of the critical mass of technical expertise and talent at headquarters, if this process continued.
16. In connection with the Active Partnership Policy, he reminded the Committee that in March 1996 the Director-General had asked the Worker members why they considered the MDTs inefficient when other constituents were satisfied with their functioning, and had asked them to give an indication of the types of analyses they required. The ILO had invested heavily in this programme and in the MDTs and it was proposed to invest more in the future; it was not a question of responding to perceptions of inefficiency but of obtaining a true picture of real return in terms of services to constituents on the basis of investment made. It would be useful to have a region-by-region evaluation with the involvement of both constituents and the Office.
17. It was regrettable that both the Turin Centre and the Institute only received a passing mention in paragraph 12 with respect to their close collaboration with the rest of the ILO in Geneva and the field. This collaboration was fully supported by the Worker members but it was not automatic. In the case of the Turin Centre it was in fact patchy and haphazard. It needed to be systemized in an ILO policy on Turin to be implemented across the Organization. Similar considerations applied with regard to the Institute which had been the subject of controversy in the past; the role of the Institute should no longer be questioned but there was a need to ensure close interaction between the Institute and technical departments.
18. The major emphasis on the promotion of the fundamental rights Conventions would naturally be supported by the Workers as a central contribution to democratization and human rights. It should, however, not be the exclusive interest in the field of standards; prioritizing some standards certainly should not mean downgrading others. Moreover, the ongoing standards-related work referred to in paragraphs 17 and 18 was likely to generate significant areas of promotional as well as technical work and budgetary provisions must be made for this to be carried out, in addition to the meeting of constitutionally based obligations in the operation of the supervisory system. The Worker members were critical of the unbalanced approach in the section on employment promotion which was dominated by enterprise-related activities. In contrast, the macro and international dimensions of employment policy were almost entirely forgotten and he recalled that there was an agreed international level component of the follow-up to the World Summit which was to be pursued in parallel to the country-level one to which the document gave particular attention. It was only in paragraph 59 at the end of the section on support services that a brief reference was made to relations with the Bretton Woods institutions and the strengthening of the social content of international policy debates. The absence of references in the paper to structural adjustment or of work with the WTO needed to be rectified in March 1997. Paragraph 30 described the intention to publish a third World Employment report and whilst the Worker members welcomed this, the chosen subject of training did not appear to be an attractive one and perhaps another topic should be considered.
19. In paragraph 36 there was a reference to a corresponding report on a social theme but as there was no mention of any subject for that report Workers' members would appreciate some clarification on this from the Office. They certainly wished to support the proposal to launch a programme on occupational safety and health and environment as contained in paragraph 33.
20. While paragraph 37 gave appropriate assurance about the continuing priority of child labour for the Office, the Workers agreed that more regular budgetary resources should be allocated to this area and the involvement of employers' and workers' organizations encouraged more than in the past. They questioned the proposal to produce "a practical handbook on national strategies to eliminate child labour". This followed on from the Manual on action-planning for the progressive elimination of child labour which itself followed on from the Guidelines for implementing and evaluating child labour action programmes. The accumulation of these documents appeared to need more explanation. Finally, as regards action programmes, technical meetings and research items, the Worker members had selected a number of priorities which they would speak of later.
21. The representative of the United States Government, on behalf of the Government members, welcomed the document which fully reflected the priorities agreed by the Governing Body in March 1996. This paper and the new budget step were seen as a major breakthrough in the discussion of the programme and budget since it afforded governments the opportunity to provide guidance to the Office early in the planning process. The Government members had not had sufficient time to discuss the paper in detail and agree on a list of priorities, but they emphasized the importance of technical cooperation as a means of action and requested that priority be given to it. They would return at a later date to the question of budget levels for which they felt insufficient information had been supplied.
22. The representative of the Government of Canada made a statement on behalf of the IMEC group of countries and her comments covered the general approach taken in the document, IMEC priorities on action programmes and technical meetings, research items, future stages in budgetary preparations, and the budget level. IMEC countries welcomed the general approach of the document, commended the Office and expressed appreciation for the efforts made to take into account the requests of the Governing Body in March 1996. The document fully reflected the priorities and strategic orientations as expressed in statements of the Government group and IMEC countries, and responded to their request to present information in relation to the three major objectives of the ILO and to present options and choices on activities. The discussion on the document would provide the Governing Body with an additional opportunity to exchange views on priorities and strategic directions prior to finalization of programme activities for the 1998-99 Programme and Budget; the selection of activities presented was an excellent indication of the creativity in the Office but would make choices difficult because all the activities listed were of value. The IMEC countries would therefore use three criteria to select action programmes and technical meetings that in their view would have the greatest impact for the funds expended. The first was the relationship to priority themes expressed in March 1996 such as child labour, integration of women in ILO programmes, support for workers' and employers' organizations, the impact of globalization, the creation of equity in employment, social exclusion of disadvantaged groups and protection of workers' rights. The second criterion would be activities supporting follow up to the World Summit for Social Development, the Beijing Conference on Women and the Working Party on the Social Dimensions of the Liberalization of International Trade. The third would be proposals reflecting the core mandate of the ILO, including tripartism. On this basis IMEC countries proposed six action programmes as the highest priority:
18 -- Action against extreme forms of child labour;
21 -- Strategies to combat youth marginalization and unemployment;
1 -- Globalization, area-based enterprise development and employment;
7 -- Small and medium enterprise development for employment;
5 -- Social investments, job creation through innovative financial instruments;
9 -- Enhancing the role of women as entrepreneurs and employers.
For the next highest priority IMEC countries proposed the following nine action programmes:
16 -- Socially responsible enterprise;
23 -- Improving the quality of women's employment;
20 -- Ageing populations: the policy response;
2 -- Labour market information systems for human resource development;
14 -- Organization and management of labour administration;
19 -- Operational framework for pension reform;
3 -- Tripartite participation and social dialogue on training;
6 -- Productivity improvement, competitivity and quality jobs in least developed countries; and
22 -- Redirecting infrastructure investments towards job creation.
23. With regard to technical meetings, IMEC gave three principal priorities:
9 -- International Symposium on Labour Inspection and Child Labour;
1 -- Tripartite High-Level Meeting concerning Follow-up on the World Social Summit;
11 -- Sixteenth International Conference of Labour Statisticians.
The next priorities would be:
13 -- International Symposium on the Future of Employers' Organizations; and
14 -- International Symposium on Trade Unions and the Informal Sector.
24. With respect to the proposed research items in the documents, IMEC countries affirmed the high degree of importance they attached to an effective ILO research programme. Timely, relevant, and quality research was required if the ILO was to assume its role as the lead international organization and forum for dialogue on the issues of labour and employment in the new global economy. The ILO's comparative advantage derived from its global membership and its access to data at the country level making it best placed to carry out empirical and action-oriented research and to provide data and statistical information to member States and to the international community. On the basis of the information provided, the scope of the research outlined in the document appeared to be very wide-ranging while IMEC countries preferred that all research be related to the core ILO mandate and agreed priorities. Moreover, it was preferable to have a focused research programme and exceptionally high-quality products. To assist future discussions on the broad subject of research activities, IMEC requested a paper for the March Governing Body that outlined the ILO strategy on research and included the major objectives of the ILO research programme; the methodology for selection and review of topics; how the various research activities related to one another; the types of quality control processes in place; the duration of the various research proposals; where in the ILO the work was currently being performed; the way in which research under way related to the work of the Institute of Labour Studies; and instances where joint research was being undertaken with other organizations.
25. She reiterated that IMEC countries welcomed the document and viewed it as a significant new stage in the presentation of programme and budgetary information to the Governing Body. However, as the choices presented in the paper represented only 4 per cent of the budget, IMEC countries would also welcome the expansion of this format of presenting activities in accordance with major priorities, to other major programmes. They therefore requested a breakdown of the proposed spending levels for each of the major priorities, the key elements of this document, revised in the light of current discussions, which would be summarized in the current format with indicative allocations of finances and staff; this could then serve as the introductory part of the draft 1998-99 Programme and Budget to be presented to the Governing Body in March 1997. They also requested estimates of actual costs, both direct and indirect, for major meetings such as the Conference, regional meetings and planned sectoral meetings. IMEC countries believed that it was essential, when preparing for future biennia, to receive as much information as possible from the Office about the impact achieved through current ILO activities, and had urged the Director-General to make more effective use of his activities Report to the International Labour Conference to demonstrate the impact of ILO work in the past biennium. As IMEC countries wished this information to be available when the Governing Body first considered the direction for a new biennium, they requested that the Office present an interim document, starting in November 1997, summarizing results of implementation in the current biennium, thus providing timely information prior to the preliminary consultations paper for a new biennium.
26. In conclusion, with respect to the budget levels proposed in paragraphs 10 and 11, the IMEC countries commended the Director-General for the prudence and realism of his proposal and urged that every effort be made for maximum absorption of any cost increases. This subject would be discussed again when the financial situation was clearer but, in the meantime, individual IMEC delegations might wish to comment on it. Once again, IMEC reiterated its appreciation for the document.
27. The representative of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, on behalf of the Asia and Pacific group of countries, welcomed the introduction of the preparatory papers on the programme and budget and saw it as an opportunity to comment on the main issues of the budget without going into detail on individual programmes. The introduction of such an item on the agenda of the November session of the Governing Body was a major step in a continuous process of setting priorities and deciding on policies, and enabled the Governing Body to discuss the allocation of the budget among major areas of activities. They believed the ILO should be a centre of excellence and a reference to ILO constituents in the fields of employment and labour, and that the promotion of all international labour standards, following current trends, and the provision of services to all ILO constituents, should continue to be its core activities. The efforts to streamline the budget and to create savings where possible as well as steps to decentralize various activities were much appreciated. While it was not appropriate to generalize on the merits of decentralization, the process itself had reduced overhead costs and brought the ILO closer to its constituents. The Active Partnership Policy, as developed over the past few years, still needed increased resources and support to ensure its effective and thorough implementation. The Asia and Pacific group of countries emphasized the necessity for the ILO to respond to the real needs of its constituents, as stressed at the Conference and recalled in paragraph 8 of the document. ILO capacity should be strengthened for the provision of technical assistance in relation to employment and poverty alleviation, monitoring of labour market evolution, development of social security systems, development of industrial relations systems, and policies on social protection. To this end, they believed that operational programmes should be strengthened, and technical cooperation viewed as the most effective and important means of action for dealing with such problems and needs, and they hoped that the extensive technical cooperation needs of the Asia and Pacific region would receive appropriate attention.
28. While the document referred to proposals currently under discussion in other committees, such as the LILS Committee and the Working Party on the Social Dimensions of the Liberalization of International Trade, they considered this Committee should not take any position on those matters pending decisions on those proposals. However, the ILO should take its responsibilities in the follow-up of the World Summit for Social Development and its role as the focal point in promoting employment and combating poverty.
29. Similarly, positive actions taken by the ILO in the follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women needed to be strengthened and sufficient resources should be allocated to enable the relevant units in the ILO to develop proposed projects.
30. Finally, in the light of significant reductions in the budget for support services and general policy-making organs, they emphasized that technical cooperation should not suffer from any budget cuts and that RBTC resources, both at headquarters and in the field, should be used in an equitable and effective manner.
31. The representative of the Government of Austria congratulated the Office for the paper which accurately reflected the discussion at the previous session of the Governing Body. Priorities for action programmes were: 3 -- Tripartite participation and social dialogue on training; 4 -- Financing of training; 18 -- Action against extreme forms of child labour; 19 -- An operational framework for pension reform; 20 -- Ageing populations: The policy response; and 21 -- Strategies to combat youth marginalization and unemployment. The priorities for technical meetings were: 6 -- Symposium on Low Pay and Minimum-Wage Fixing; 9 -- International Symposium on Labour Inspection and Child Labour; 10 -- Joint ILO/Council of Europe Meeting on Social Security; and 14 -- International Symposium on Trade Unions and the Informal Sector. The priorities for research items were: 2 -- Impact of changes in the pattern of production and services on the creation, disappearance and location of employment; 3 -- Labour market flexibility and employment security; 6 -- Role of the State and the private sector in training; 14 -- Strengthening the capacity of constituents and societies to eliminate child labour; 18 -- Working time and gender; and 22 -- Principles of social security. Referring to paragraph 68 of the document, he requested clarification on whether reforms on staffing levels suggested merely a shift of numbers from headquarters to the regions or whether at the same time there would be a general cut in staffing levels. He disagreed with the principle of rationalization in the public sector, which included international organizations, because it would lead to cuts in staffing levels and a consequent increase in unemployment. With the globalization of the world economy, it was difficult to maintain staffing levels in the private sector so a policy of increasing unemployment in the public sector should be avoided.
32. Mr. Noakes (Employer member) commented on two areas previously mentioned by Mr. Gray. The first concerned the proposals in paragraphs 27 and 28 on the integration of the multinational enterprise programme (MULTI) within the enterprise and cooperative development major programme (ENTREPRISE). Above all, care should be exercised in changing the character of the multinational enterprise programme because it was an area in which there was an agreed basis for work based on the Tripartite Declaration, so the latter part of the sentence in paragraph 27, "... a fresh look at the role of management and other practices in multinational enterprises aimed at improving employment generation and social initiatives" should be dropped. The proposal in paragraph 28 on the constitution of "a think-tank on the social role of enterprises" would go beyond the role of MULTI, and it would be preferable for it to maintain its existing status.
33. The second matter concerned Mr. Gray's reservations about the Employers' comments on the redefinition of workers' basic rights. The Employers were not contemplating a rewrite of the relevant Conventions; on the contrary, they were only suggesting that a complementary expression of those fundamental rights could be of assistance in the promotion of these rights.
34. The representative of the Government of Finland joined those who had expressed their appreciation of the document presented and commended the Office for introducing this new procedure, a constructive step forward in helping to facilitate discussions of budget proposals. Certainly, the ILO should be a centre of excellence in the fields of employment and labour standards, and it would be appropriate for strategic guidelines on how this goal would be reached to be introduced at this stage. Perhaps as a first step a set of operative measures regarding the ILO's role as a centre of excellence could be established.
35. The representative of the Government of Mexico expressed appreciation for a paper which went some way towards analysing priorities and decisions regarding the appropriations of funds for specific programmes. After extensive discussions the Latin American countries could not come to a single common position on this paper which represented their different views, but they were able to reach an agreement concerning the interests of developing countries in improving productivity, competitiveness and quality jobs.
36. Paragraphs 38 and 39 touched on this issue and action programme proposal No. 6 described how productivity improvement, competitivity and quality jobs were being promoted in the least developed countries, although they were of considerable importance for all developing countries. This proposal should remain a top priority but it could be strengthened and made more effective if it could be enlarged to cover developing countries as well. Many of the Latin American countries would support such an approach.
37. The representative of the Government of China endorsed the statement made by the spokesman for the Asia-Pacific member States but wished to make some further comments. The proposed priorities constituted the basis for the preparation of the programme and budget and it was therefore necessary for them to be clearly defined. The major challenges facing the world today were employment generation and the alleviation of poverty, as the World Social Summit in Copenhagen acknowledged. The Summit asked the ILO to promote full employment as a basic policy objective for economic and social policy, so as to enable workers to obtain sustainable livelihood. It was imperative that the ILO took advantage of its role as the agency dealing with employment issues to combine the promotion of employment with the promotion of labour standards and the strengthening of workers' protection.
38. He expressed strong support for the ILO's Active Partnership Policy and technical cooperation in the fields of promoting employment, combating poverty and the protection of working people. There had been a noticeable decline in the level of programmes in technical cooperation in labour organizations, and although it seemed that most of the needs of developing countries had been met, the programmes that were carried out lacked vitality. The ILO should make further efforts to meet the increasing needs of member States in technical cooperation, as the Summit had requested. New programmes should also be introduced to ensure that the ILO became a true centre of excellence on employment and labour issues.
39. The action programmes put forward in paragraphs 38 and 39 appeared to be inadequately funded and it might be necessary to cut some technical meetings to create savings. The research activities listed in paragraph 43 were most important and would enable the ILO to improve its expertise in labour matters.
40. Priority for action programmes should be as follows: 1 -- Globalization, area-based enterprise development and employment; 2 -- Labour market information systems for human resource development; 4 -- Financing of training; 7 -- Small and medium-sized enterprise development for employment; 9 -- Enhancing the role of women as entrepreneurs and employers; 14 -- Organization and management of labour administration; 16 -- Socially responsible enterprise; 17 -- Safety culture; 18 -- Action against extreme forms of child labour; 19 -- An operational framework for pension reform; and 23 -- Improving the quality of women's employment.
41. Mr. Marshall said the Employers had found it difficult to select priorities in action programmes because they reflected the full range of ILO activities. Nevertheless, in order of preference their choices were: 1 (recognizing that globalization offers opportunity for positive action); 2; 5; 6 (the potential for intra-regional relationships and trade as mechanisms for economic and social growth should be considered); 7 (this was core business. Employment prospects should be pursued because job security should not be recognized as a given. Small and medium-sized enterprise development could encompass the promotion of new entrepreneurship and could perhaps include elements of item 9.); 8 (this was a priority as tourism was a major job-creation activity); 11; 17 (this programme could be enlarged to include environmental issues and consider responsible care voluntary initiatives); 18; 19 (this programme should place emphasis on modern approaches with private enterprise involvement in the pension reform process); and 21 (this programme should have a more positive outlook aimed at strategies for stimulating youth employment). In the useful but not critical category priorities were: 3; 4; 10 (this programme should possibly be made more general, expanding beyond cooperatives; employers' organizations were also an important component in the programme); 12 (alternative bargaining options in a decentralized environment should be identified); 20 (an important area of activity but should recognize the work already done at the regional level); and 23 (also an important area but duplication should be avoided). The lowest priorities were 9 (which could be assimilated into item 7), 13, 16 and 22. Items 14, 15 and 16 might benefit from multi-bilateral approaches.
42. With respect to technical meetings, he mentioned the following seven items as their selection of priorities: 9; 3 (an important ILO initiative in view of the positive tripartite involvement in the first Forum); 4; 7; 13; 14; and 11.
43. The Employers supported the request for a policy statement made by the representative of Canada, representing the industrialized market economy countries (IMEC). As a general comment, the ILO should have a clear strategy for research, ensure that proposals were relevant to both the times and organizational activities, and that research was neutral and not structured on predetermined prejudices or perceptions. Some further comments on specific proposals: 2 (proposal meaningless as it stood); 10 (not a priority -- perhaps not necessary); 11 (emphasis should be placed on the analysis of different bargaining formats, different bargaining levels and worker participation schemes); 12 (should not prejudge the outcome of the research and a conclusion should not be reached in the text); 14 (should not overlap child labour where IPEC had a priority and where a range of other activities and research were being undertaken); 17 (should relate to long-term employment prospects); 18 (should not be restricted necessarily to gender); 20 (text should remain neutral, should drop the latter half of the sentence after "working-time arrangements"); 21 (obviously of macroeconomic importance, but not clear whether this is within the core mandate of the ILO and whether there is in fact capacity for delivery in this area); 22 (should include an examination of modern approaches involving the private sector); 23 (18, 20 and 23 could be merged); and 24 (encompasses the whole of the ILO programme and Employers had some difficulty identifying the actual research in this area). He requested clarification before the Employers expressed a view on items 25, 27 and 28 since the objective of the research was not clear. Finally, he suggested that the title of item 26 be revised to "Social dialogue, job creation and poverty elimination" and the text to "a review of experiences and lessons learnt at the national and enterprise level".
44. The representative of the Government of the United Kingdom congratulated the Office for an interesting document which responded well to the concerns raised previously in the Governing Body and would prove most helpful in the discussions of the programme and budget proposals in March 1997.
45. The Director-General deserved to be commended for his intention to propose a zero nominal growth budget level for the next biennium since it was a realistic response to current financial constraints and was consistent with trends across the UN system, and the Office should continue the development of systems which allowed for evaluations and the identification of efficiency improvements. The United Kingdom strongly endorsed the statements made by the representative of the Government of Canada, representing the IMEC countries, and accepted the priorities set out in the IMEC statement.
46. The representative of the Government of Sweden stated that its views were covered in the main by the statements made by the speakers for the Government group and the IMEC countries but some additional comments could be made. First, efforts to ensure the ILO was a centre of excellence could not be separated from the issues of personnel and staff policies and improvement strategies, and it would have been useful to have had more information from the Office on this important link, including an inventory of human resources available in the different priority areas. Secondly, economic policy was an important issue and the appointment of a Chief Economic Adviser would have been a sensible step to deal with these specialist matters. The Office should also consider expanding research activities on issues related to the informal sector and linkages between employment and macroeconomic policies. As a final point, it would be interesting to know why General Service category staff in the field had increased as much as described in the penultimate paragraph of the Office paper.
47. The representative of the Government of the United States fully supported the statements made by the speaker for the IMEC countries, especially those related to priority action programmes and technical meetings. However, there should be more information on the breakdown of spending levels for each priority and the presentation of choices should be expanded to cover the majority of ILO programmes in future discussions on this topic. As well, action programmes and technical meetings should be related more tightly to priority objectives and information on the evaluation of output and outcomes should be made available early in the programme budgeting process.
48. Recalling the information given earlier concerning the payment of assessed contributions, she said that the Committee should be aware that shortfalls were also likely in the years ahead. There would probably be a steady decline in resources for international organizations and this would force dramatic changes to the way the budgets of these organizations were analysed. For these reasons the United States was working to achieve a sustainable budget level in the ILO, and it had therefore proposed last March a budget ceiling, lower than that suggested by the Director-General, of US$525 million, a 9 per cent reduction below the approved budget level for 1996-97 in nominal terms. Many members of the Committee had already registered their concern but the intention was not to have US views alone shape this debate, but rather to bring openness and transparency into the decision process. The United States assessment was 25 per cent of the ILO budget and its financial constraints inevitably had a disproportionate impact on ILO activities. She expressed appreciation for the efforts made to bring the budget to a more realistic level, but it was nevertheless rather alarming to see that the inflation factor, currently projected at 4 per cent, would add US$22 million to the US$558 million proposal and return the budget to about US$580 million, US$1 million more than the current level. It was already clear that this level would have to be reduced in order to bring it closer into line with anticipated income, and it was absolutely essential that the Office plan now to absorb fully the expected 4 per cent average inflation and cost increases. Long-term planning was needed with a commitment to reduce the regular budget by a total of 20 per cent over the next several biennia.
49. In recent years, the United States had experienced a real decline of more than 50 per cent in resources for foreign affairs and this had been accompanied by proportional reductions in staffing. Their intention was to bring multilateral commitments into rough parity with the resources available while keeping the organizations useful and relevant as centres of excellence. More would be needed than just cost-cutting, and fresh approaches with an emphasis on measurable outcomes and results-based management would be much sought after. In conclusion, she assured the Committee that the United States would make every effort to honour, within the limitations imposed by financial constraints, its financial obligations.
50. The representative of the Government of the Russian Federation expressed appreciation for the Office paper. The new format of the proposals for the Programme and Budget for 1998-99 was an important step forward in improving the organization of the bedget discussion, which gave the Governing Body members larger possibilities to participate in this exercise. It was not necessary to discuss at this stage the priorities for ILO activities for the next biennium, since they had already been considered and generally approved. He emphasized the need to strengthen operational activities in the regions in order to increase ILO practical assistance to member States. For this purpose it was necessary to redistribute the financial resources and personnel in favour of the regions..
51. Priorities for action programmes were: 14 -- Organization and management of labour administration; 15 -- Organizational developments in labour inspection; 16 -- Socially responsible enterprise; 17 -- Safety culture; 19 -- Operational framework for pension reform; and 20 -- Ageing populations: The policy response. Priorities for technical meetings: 5 -- Symposium on Collective Bargaining in the Industrialized Countries; 6 -- Symposium on Low Pay and Minimum-Wage Fixing; 10 -- Joint ILO/Council of Europe Meeting on Social Security; and 11 -- Sixteenth International Conference of Labour Statisticians. Priorities for research were items: 4 -- Labour market policies for transition economies; 6 -- Role of the State and the private sector in training; 12 -- Public sector pay; 13 -- Labour inspection: Preparation of a guide on the changing role, etc.; 17 -- Work and protection: Options for the twenty-first century; 20 -- Working time, health and safety; and 22 -- Principles of social security.
52. It was gratifying to see that the Director-General intended to maintain a biennium of zero growth in nominal terms and the Office should absorb inflation increases. Additional efforts would have to be made to reduce administrative costs and further economies would almost certainly be required in view of the difficulties some member States would have in contributing to the budget of the Organization.
53. The representative of the Government of Colombia congratulated the Office on the document which was quite clear and addressed the concerns expressed by the Governing Body at it last meeting. She expressed agreement with the outlined priorities contained in paragraphs 5-9 and stressed the importance of giving priority to action programmes and technical cooperation in the developing countries. She agreed with the representative of the Government of Mexico that action programme 6 on productivity improvement, competitivity and quality jobs should be expanded to include developing countries and priorities for the remainder should be: 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, 21, 22 and 23. As regards technical meetings, items 10 and 12 could be eliminated and the rest retained.
54. On paragraphs 27 and 28, he shared the concern of the Employer members about the fusing of MULTI and ENTREPRISE. It would be interesting to have clarification on why this had been suggested and what the benefits would be.
55. The representative of the Government of India expressed appreciation for the paper and endorsed the statement made earlier by the speaker for the Asia-Pacific region. He strongly supported the proposals in paragraph 37 and welcomed the proposed increase in allocations in the regular budget with respect to activities on the elimination of child labour.
56. With regard to paragraph 39, he commented that all 23 subjects were important but the following could be regarded as priorities: 1, 2, 4, 5, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22 and 23. Items 7 and 8 could be merged and included if funds permitted. For technical meetings, items 1, 4, 6, 9, 10, 13 and 14 could be taken as priorities.
57. The representative of the Government of Egypt thanked the Office for the document and expressed agreement with the proposals for the biennium 1998-99. On the basis of zero real growth in relation to the 1996-97 budget, she agreed with the criteria adopted in order to establish priorities.
58. Priorities for the next biennium should be the programmes on globalization; the development of countries' capacity to generat employment and job creation in the rural sector, the informal sector, training und human resources development and combating poverty; the increased activities of SMEs; unemployment of youth; improving the position of women, especially those who lost their jobs as a result of restructuring and the need to reintegrate them into the economy. Research programmes should be aimed at activities in line with the ILO's mandate, and she agreed with earlier speakers that every efforts should be made to ensure that technical cooperation activities were not affected by budgetary cuts. These activities should be a priority for developing and least developed countries.
59. Priorities for action programmes should be 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22 and 23. Priorities for technical meetings are 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 14, and for research items: 6, 7, 9, 12, 13, 26 and 28.
60. The representative of the Government of Argentina thought the document responded well to the concerns expressed at the March 1996 session of the Governing Body. He expressed agreement with all four basic strategic priorities for activities and emphasized the importance which should be attached to technical cooperation activities as a way of promoting objectives set for the ILO. He supported the change in the distribution of resources as indicated in paragraphs 61 and 62. This reallocation should result in a direct benefit to regional programmes and to technical cooperation activities which are their basic source of interest. Priorities for action programmes should be those directly related to employment: 1, 5, 6, 7, 13, 16, 21, 22 and 23, and he endorsed the proposal to expand action programme 6 on improving productivity and competitiveness and the creation of high-quality jobs to include developing countries. Others deserving support were: 18 (Action against extreme forms of child labour); and 11 (Improving procedures for settling disputes over rights). On technical meetings, he agreed with the proposals in paragraph 41 and gave priority to those meetings which had already been postponed. More information would be needed before priorities could be set for research topics, but in principle it would be necessary to give priority to the type of research which related to the programmes of action to be implemented over the biennium.
61. Paragraph 11 of the document should be redrafted to include a precise amount for the Programme and Budget for 1998-99. Fluctuations in the exchange rate altered the level of the budget expressed in Swiss francs, the currency in which member States paid their contributions, and this particularly affected member States outside Europe. The Office should take into account the impact of exchange rate fluctuations when the programme and budget proposals for the next biennium were finalized.
62. The representative of the Government of Indonesia agreed with the views that had earlier been expressed by the speaker for the Asia-Pacific group. Three priorities for the future programme and budget were of greatest importance: responding to the needs of all countries and to developing countries particularly in the context of economic interdependence; the balance between standard-setting and development activities; strengthening technical capacity and advisory services and providing for adequate financial resources. The Office was playing a more direct role in defining programme and budget priorities and this could help the Organization as a whole to respond more rapidly to the changing needs of constituents.
63. The most important action programmes were those that addressed employment and poverty alleviation, labour standards in the area of occupational safety and health, working conditions and worker protection. Priorities were action programmes 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 21 and 22. Action programmes 9 and 23 addressing women's employment issues should be merged into one programme and action programme 15 should emphasize the role that national labour inspectors could play in monitoring working conditions, safety and health. More resources should be devoted to programmes concerned with child labour and with poverty alleviation, especially social security for rural and urban informal sector workers in developing countries.
64. Turning to the proposed technical meetings, the more important concerned the promotion of small enterprises and improvement in working conditions, especially in the area of safety and health, and technical meetings; 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 11 should be held in the 1998-99 biennium. As to research items, they would be important generally for addressing the future needs of constituents in view of the complex social changes associated with the process of globalization, more especially so for developing countries. Research undertaken should involve the end-users and results should be made publicly available.
65. The representative of the Government of Japan endorsed the statements of speakers for the IMEC countries, and the Asia-Pacific group and emphasized the continued need for the ILO to exercise budgetary restraint. The ILO had already streamlined the budget but some estimation for future inflation had to be taken into account. The strategic importance of proposals should determine budgetary allocation, not only for action programmes, but also for technical meetings and research activities. It would be useful to know the actual amount of budgetary increases and discussion would be easier if the documents were less bulky.
66. The document rightly attached importance to technical cooperation, occupational safety and health and organizational decentralization. Discussions had already taken place on supervisory mechanisms for the application of labour standards and these should be taken into account. The recent Enterprise Forum had been highly successful and the Office should look into the possibility of organizing a second. More discussion was needed on Governing Body reform so perhaps an extra Governing Body session, even a short one, could be arranged for May or June. To ensure the ILO could properly fulfil its mandate the quality and high level of professionalism of its staff should be further strengthened through a solid personnel policy and enhanced training policies.
67. The representative of the Government of the Republic of Korea agreed with the views expressed by the speaker for the Asia-Pacific group that promoting democracy, employment, improving human resources and worker protection and fighting poverty were major challenges for the future. There should be more emphasis on human resource development and employment stability so as to promote a creative and optimistic environment for workers into the next century. Particular emphasis should be placed on the programmes dealing with: the financing of training, especially in the developing countries and countries in transition; small and medium-sized enterprise development for employment; labour market information systems for human resource development; action against extreme forms of child labour; productivity improvement, competitivity and quality jobs in least developed countries; pension reform; policy responses to ageing populations; safety culture; strategies to combat youth unemployment; improving the quality of women's employment; and job creation through innovative financial instruments. Action programmes which were probably not so important were those proposed on small-scale tourism networks and enhancing the role of women as entrepreneurs.
68. Technical meetings should be important for all of the tripartite constituents but the proposals for a second Enterprise Forum, meetings on the future of employers' organizations, on the informal sector and trade unions and a joint ILO/Council of Europe meeting on social security were not needed in the present and could be reserved for a later stage. Similarly, it was premature to hold a meeting on EPZ-operating countries and this should be postponed until such time as the countries in question were more willing to participate. He welcomed the Director-General's continuing efforts at streamlining the Office and introducing more efficient procedures.
69. The representative of the Government of Peru voiced general support for action programmes and stressed in particular those that would address globalization and local enterprise development, small and medium-sized enterprises for employment, the elimination of extreme forms of child labour, improving the quality of women's employment and the enhancing of productivity, competitiveness and quality employment in the least developed countries. In respect of the last-mentioned programme he supported the proposal made by the representative of the Government of Mexico that it should be expanded to cover developing countries as well. Finally, he expressed support for the technical meetings dealing with the follow-up to the World Summit for Social Development, the second Enterprise Forum and the International Symposium on Labour Inspection and Child Labour.
70. The representative of the Government of the Congo expressed support for action programmes 2 -- Labour market information systems for human resource development, 5 -- Social investments: Job creation through innovative financial instruments, 6 -- Productivity improvement, competitivity and quality jobs in least developed countries, 7 -- Small and medium-sized enterprise development for employment, 9 -- Enhancing the role of women as entrepreneurs and employers, 11 -- Improving procedures for settling disputes over rights, 12 -- Cooperative approaches to collective bargaining, 14 -- Organization and management of labour administration, 19 -- An operational framework for pension reform and 21 -- Strategies to combat youth marginalization and unemployment.
71. Priorities for technical meetings were: 3 -- Second Enterprise Forum, 4 -- Tripartite Meeting of EPZ-Operating countries, 6 -- Symposium on Low Pay and Minimum-Wage Fixing, 8 -- Symposium on Preventing Violence at Work, 11 -- Sixteenth International Conference of Labour Statisticians and 12 -- Meeting of Experts on Labour Statistics: Occupational Injuries.
72. The representative of the Government of Germany expressed full support for the remarks of the speaker for the IMEC countries. As the World Summit for Social Development had shown, the fight against poverty and the creation of productive jobs were particularly important priorities, which was why special emphasis should be given to action programme 5 -- Social investments: Job creation through innovative financial instruments. To avoid the debt spiral which could lead to debt bondage for children, top priority should be given to the effective fight against child labour through action programme 18 -- Action against extreme forms of child labour.
73. Competence in research on employment issues could ensure that the ILO was accepted as a competent adviser. Turning to more general matters, he stated that Germany would make available the resources promiseed. He welcomed the major efforts at budget consolidation reflected in the document before the Committeed, but the Office should be careful that the interest concession granted by the Government of Switzerland should not be seen as justifying further expenditure. The Programme and Budget for 1998-99 should continue to be based on zero nominal growth and every effort should be made to absorb inflation adjustments as far as possible.
74. The representative of the Government of Italy also agreed with the statement by the speaker for the IMEC countries and wished only to stress the importance of action programme 18 -- Action against extreme forms of child labour and the proposed handbook on the subject. This programme would draw on the experience already gathered in the IPEC programme, which would be further discussed in the International Labour Conferences of 1997 and 1998, and the recent Stockholm conference on this subject would be followed in 1997 by conferences in Amsterdam and Oslo. It was time now to move from principles to practice and a selection of the countries in which IPEC was already active would be the place to start. In Italy public opinion had been aroused by the problem of child labour and a national fund-raising campaign had begun which had already collected about $600,000. A similar awareness of the seriousness of this problem should be reflected in the 1998-99 Programme and Budget proposals to be discussed next March.
75. Mr. Gray, on behalf of the Worker members, was not reassured by the earlier comments of Mr. Noakes (Employer member) concerning the fundamental human rights Conventions. In the Workers' view, these Conventions stood on their own and did not require further elaboration. With reference to paragraph 35 in the document before him, the Worker members were uneasy over the reference to "the effects of ageing populations on the future of the welfare state". This was an unfortunate choice of language that should be either explained or changed.
76. The ILO's databases referred to in paragraph 56 could be made more user-friendly, but it was more important that they contain reliable information and be frequently updated. The Workers disagreed with the comment by the representative of the Government of Germany on the use of the interest forgiven on the ILO loan. The money should be used for the purposes set forth in the letter received from the Swiss Government.
77. Turning to the action programmes, Mr. Gray commented that many of the research items appeared more interesting to the Worker members than did the action programmes and he wished to know how the research items and the action programmes were related. More specifically, did the Office intend to rank the action programmes on the basis of the comments they were receiving in the Governing Body and supply a list at a later date or ought the Worker members to begin negotiating with Employer members and others to establish such a list?
78. The Director-General felt that after the many statements made by the various delegations, the most reasonable solution would be to leave it up to the Office to carry out the difficult exercise of assessing the priorities as indicated and preparing the draft budget which would be submitted in March.
79. In view of time constraints, the Workers agreed that the Office might be best entrusted with the task of assessing the priorities. Turning to the proposed action programmes, the Worker members requested that the Office consider also the following previous proposals which had not been retained in the document: The promotion of the fundamental human rights Conventions; International arrangements for worker representation in multinational enterprises; Tripartite participation in structural adjustment programmes; and New approaches to preventing mistreatment and discrimination against migrant workers, with the Social effects of the liberalization of international trade also added to the list. Among current proposals, the priorities were for 1, 5, 6, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 21 and 23. With respect to 17, Safety culture, the ILO's competence in the field should take precedence over the International Safety Organization. In addition to these priorities, it could be worthwhile for the Office to consider 14 -- Organization and management of labour administration, which was of particular relevance to developing countries, 4 -- Financing of training and 3 -- Tripartite participation and social dialogue on training.
80. With regard to technical meetings, Mr. Gray agreed with the priorities suggested in paragraph 41 concerning 4 -- Tripartite Meeting of EPZ-Operating Countries, 13 -- International Symposium on the Future of Employers' Organizations and 14 -- International Symposium on Trade Unions and the Informal Sector. In addition, 1 -- Tripartite High-Level Meeting concerning follow-up on the World Social Summit, should be supported by all and the Office seemed obliged to hold 11 -- Sixteenth International Conference of Labour Statisticians. As to the proposal for a second Enterprise Forum, if it was not possible for it to be organized on a completely tripartite basis, including the preparation of its agenda, then the Worker members would oppose holding this meeting.
81. Finally, Mr. Gray also gave priority to 7 -- Meeting of Experts on Ambient Factors at the Workplace, as well as to 9 -- International Symposium on Labour Inspection and Child Labour, although the latter should be a meeting rather than a symposium, so that the possibility existed to develop some conclusions. Turning to research items, he voiced particular support for 1, 2, 3, 4, 11, 14, 19, 20 and 26, as written in the Office paper and not as interpreted by some earlier speakers.
82. The representative of the Government of France, while commending the Office for a document that responded to the request for choices that had been made by the Governing Body, wondered whether the Office had not gone too far in offering such an open-ended choice. He was reassured, however, that, by March, the Office would present a narrower set of proposals based on the present discussion. He thanked the IMEC countries for the effort that had been made in arriving at priorities common to those countries and agreed with the priorities established with one minor variation concerning the balance struck between the programmes surrounding the two major themes of employment and work. He favoured tilting the balance in favour of programmes related to work and therefore gave higher priority to action programmes 14 -- Organization and management of labour administration and 19 -- An operational framework for pension reform.
83. The representative of the Government of Mexico underscored the importance of paragraph 9 which expressed the desire of the Governing Body to ensure that the ILO adapt its activities, gain greater publicity and enhance its efficiency, effectiveness and credibility. The importance of technical cooperation for meeting the needs of constituents should also be highlighted. Creativity was also required and, as the previous day's discussion in the Social and Employment Policy Committee showed, both the country employment policy reviews and the proposed high-level meeting of policy-makers should enable the Committee to make the right decisions so that the ILO could follow up effectively on the decisions taken by the World Summit for Social Development.
84. He expressed support for the proposal to launch an international programme aimed at more and better jobs for women, not only to address the requests made at the Fourth International Conference on Women in Beijing, but also to take into consideration decisions taken elsewhere in the United Nations system on this subject. He also endorsed the proposal in paragraph 33 for the launch of a world programme on occupational safety and health and the environment, and useful lessons might also be drawn from the ideas of an earlier programme, the International Programme for the Improvement of Working Conditions. The eradication of child labour, especially in it harshest forms, was a clear priority and the proposed handbook on national strategies of particular importance.
85. Turning to the selection of action programmes and technical meetings, he suggested that a form be prepared for the current Governing Body session on which members could indicate their priorities. Those Government representatives who had not intervened in the discussion because they had no instructions from their governments would have that opportunity in the course of the coming days and the Office could be spared considerable time and energy.
86. The Director-General replied that, following Mr. Gray's statement, it had been agreed that the Office would establish the programme and budget proposals taking into account the discussions of the PFA and that it would be up to the Governing Body to make its final choices next March.
87. The representative of the Government of Mexico listed as priorities action programmes 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, including the adjustment proposed earlier, followed by 7, 11, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21 and 23. Priorities for technical meetings were all except 11 and 12, and for research items all were relevant, as were the reforms in the operation of the Governing Body described in paragraphs 48 and 49. Finally, for any measure taken the following questions should be asked: Was it suitable for achieving the Organization's objective? Was it coherent overall? What resources were at stake and what savings could be achieved? What were its costs and benefits?
88. The representative of the Government of Nigeria, on behalf of the African member States, said that the document before the Committee offered guidance and options on a range of proposals for the 1998-99 biennium. They welcomed the emphasis on issues relating to the follow-up of the World Summit for Social Development with regard to employment, the fight against poverty and the protection of working people, but the highest priority should be given to technical cooperation relating to the role of women and the elimination of child labour. As to the proposed action programmes, technical meetings and research, they were still studying this and other documents and reserved their right for a subsequent intervention.
89. The representative of the Government of Bangladesh associated himself both with the earlier remarks of the speaker for the Asia-Pacific group and the representative of the Government of the Republic of Korea. The Active Partnership Policy and technical cooperation activities needed to be further strengthened so that appropriate programmes and projects in the priority areas identified could be designed so as to produce visible results. He gave full support to all research items which had the potential to provide fresh directions for action programmes.
90. The representative of the Government of Malaysia agreed with the statement by the speaker for the Asia-Pacific group and regarded action programmes 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20 and 23 as priorities. Priorities for technical meetings were 2, 3 and 9, and for research items 3, 5, 6, 20, 22, 23 and 24 were of particular importance.
91. The representative of the Government of Chile wished to acknowledge the work undertaken by the Office in producing a document wholly in line with the requests of the Governing Body at its previous session. Next March the priorities that emerged from the present discussion should be presented for more detailed discussion. He expressed general support for the proposals on the technical meetings and research items, and attached particular importance to action programmes relating to training and employment.
92. Mr. Marshall, for the Employers, asked for further information on the cost increases for some technical meetings: in the case of the proposed Meeting on EPZs, for example, from $158,000 to $274,000. The Employers believed the agenda of the second Enterprise Forum should be fully discussed between the Office and the tripartite constituents, and they supported the IMEC group's suggestion that a research policy document be prepared and that programme audits be undertaken.
93. Mr. Gray said that the Workers would like to see action programme 1 reoriented towards an examination of globalization and the factors affecting enterprise location, and the narrow focus of action programme 6 expanded to consider global development strategies for the least developed countries.
94. The representative of the Government of the United States, speaking on behalf of the Government group, was concerned that the views of some governments may not have been stated to the Committee because of lack of time and she recommended that these governments communicate their comments to the Office so that they could be taken into consideration.
95. The Director of the Bureau of Programming and Management, in reply to the query from Mr. Marshall, said that he would supply the information requested.
96. The Director-General felt that the Governing Body had generally considered that the document submitted to it met the concerns it had expressed. The members of the Governing Body had had the opportunity to take a stance upon the major objectives and also to make their comments on the various programmes proposed. All the comments made would be examined and it would be up to the Governing Body to decide in March whether the Office had faithfully complied with the discussions and adequately taken into account the comments made.
97. The Chairman said that this was the first time that the Governing Body had embarked on an exercise of this kind and the benefits of doing so were obvious. The Committee would resume discussion of this item the following day when it considered documents relating to ILO publications policy and the rationalization of field structures. Before adjourning he asked the Director-General for a concluding comment.
98. The Director-General described the background against which the Office had prepared the document on the rationalization of ILO field structures. He recalled that a general document had been submitted last March to the Governing Body which gave an analysis of the ILO field structures; this gave rise to a first discussion. At the time, he had drawn the Governing Body's attention to the fact that it was like opening a "Pandora's box" and that it would be extremely difficult for the Governing Body to agree upon any one structure. He had felt that the wisest approach would be to leave it up to the Director-General to implement a number of policies in this field. The document submitted today should be seen in the context of preparations for the 1998-99 budget. It was important that the Governing Body should state, when examining the document, whether it felt that any of the proposals should be included in the draft 1998-99 budget which would be submitted for approval in March. The Director-General specified that he would only include in the 1998-99 budget those items which had obtained an adequate consensus within the Governing Body.
99. The Committee took note of the Office paper.
ILO publications policy
100. The Committee had before it a document(2) describing ILO publications policy, postponed from the 265th Session of the Governing Body (March 1996).
101. Mr. Marshall, speaking on behalf of the Employers, recognized that considerable work had been put into the document but the issue of a publications policy required more thought, because even if the objectives mentioned in paragraph 3 were sufficient in scope, which was debatable, they were not currently being met. The Employers believed that the publications policy should be based on quality rather than quantity, and on organizational priorities for activities. Publications should be relevant, produced in a timely manner and authoritative whilst being both readable and practical, and they should have a solid reference base. At present, current policy and the application of it did not measure up to these criteria. Once they were met, the publications would be in demand and they would sell, making the pricing policy less of an issue. The Employers requested that more information on a publications policy and a marketing and distribution strategy be presented to the next session of the Governing Body.
102. Mr. Gray, speaking on behalf of the Workers, expressed concern regarding the text of paragraph 9 of the document which should be changed from "strategy-setting officials" to "officials charged with implementing strategies" as it was the Governing Body and its Committees that set strategies, not officials. He disagreed with the comment in paragraph 3 of the document that the basic objective of the publications policy was to reinforce the ILO's reputation. That would follow automatically once the real objective -- meeting the ILO's constituents' information needs was being met. It was not clear how, as stated in paragraph 14, there would be a doubling of revenues in the next biennium and he wondered if the resources available were sufficient to implement the policy set out in the document. The Workers were anxious to ensure accessibility of documents, both in terms of price and language and all documents should be available in at least the three ILO official languages. It would be useful to have more information on the composition of the review committee, but the Workers assumed that ACTRAV's labour education publication would not be subject to such a review. It was unfortunate that Labour Education, which had just published its 100th issue and was designed for trade union leaders and educators, had been omitted from the list of periodicals in the document. There should be stronger promotion of this publication and the Workers were concerned that publications should be affordable to trade unions -- access to information was more important than glossy and expensive publications. It was imperative that outsourced printing was contracted to firms which met employment standards and criteria for proper conditions of work.
103. The representative of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, speaking on behalf of the Asia-Pacific group, welcomed the savings achieved and the focus of the new policy on quality products which could be of practical use to constituents. Publications should disseminate knowledge on how to solve policy problems and it might be necessary to examine some of the current publications to see if they meet this objective. The marketing policy of publications should not affect their distribution to tripartite constituents in member States.
104. The representative of the Government of Pakistan endorsed the overall objective of the document to reinforce the reputation of the Organization as a centre of excellence on issues related to labour and employment. The ILO should produce and market publications that reflected the core mandate of the Organization and which were recognized for their originality, quality, accessibility and objectivity. He further endorsed the steps the ILO was taking to achieve savings and produce revenues through its publications policy with the following caveats: the ILO was not a commercial enterprise and should not attempt to become one unless it was able to do justice to its demanding, important and responsible mandate; ILO publications should not be priced prohibitively; and, most importantly, the ILO should continue to supply a reasonable number of copies of its publications to governments, workers' and employers' organizations free of charge. Regarding paragraph 10 of the document dealing with the selection and dissemination of publications, it was necessary to ensure that a balanced approach was taken in the choice of topics. The tendency to target publications by selecting subjects that were likely to arouse greater interest in countries whose people were in a better position to buy them should be resisted. He expressed strong support for paragraph 17(d) stipulating fairness and accuracy in the way the subject was treated and requested clarification as to who would identify the issues for the extensive policy analysis based on a multidisciplinary approach as mentioned in paragraph 23. Referring to paragraph 27, caution should be exercised so that commercialization would not lead to sensationalization of publications. With reference to paragraph 41, an effort should be made to ensure that a continuous and steady flow of titles did not lead to a deterioration in quality and objectivity of the ILO publications. Some parts of the document overlapped with the section on research items in document GB.267/PFA/8/1, and could be included in the comprehensive paper on research to be submitted to the March session of the Governing Body.
105. The representative of the Government of Austria considered that reform of the publications policy was long overdue, and the ILO should concentrate on publications covering topics fundamental to its mandate. The focus should be on quality rather than quantity of publications and he believed that in the current financial climate the income forecast shown in paragraph 8 of the document was probably too optimistic. He agreed with the evaluation criteria given in paragraphs 16 and 17 and on the questions of dissemination and pricing outlined in the document.
106. The representative of the Government of Malaysia congratulated the ILO on a timely document on publications policy. It contained many useful proposals and criteria for evaluation of materials for publication and was clearly focused, well written and properly researched. Although the cost-saving measures proposed were in line with the budgetary constraints facing the ILO, they should not, in any way, undermine the quality of the publications or the timeliness of their production. They should be part of a continuing process which should be evaluated taking into account feedback concerning publications. The trend towards dissemination of information by electronic means, including the Internet, was a very welcome one, which would make the information more affordable and easier to obtain.
107. The representative of the Government of the Russian Federation pointed out that paragraph 4 of the document stated that the ILO was committed to the widespread dissemination of its publications in languages other than English, French and Spanish. ILO publications should appear in Russian so that Russian specialists would have access to them.
108. The representative of the Government of the United States expressed appreciation for the document, and in particular the logical and long-term strategies it proposed. Whilst it was true that publications policy should be to serve the ILO's constituents, the external impact of publications should be considered in order to allow the ILO to contribute to policy debates. Regarding the strategy and structure of publications management, it was true that the ILO was not a commercial business, but there were good reasons for putting the publications policy on a businesslike basis. The opinion of experts on the possibility of generating more revenue would be welcome. The review process appeared to be sound, because it was important in a strategic approach to have an objective review process for choosing the subject-matter of publications. The paper clearly defined the types of publications and the separation between publications and documents, a distinction not always clear in the past.
109. The representative of the Government of China supported the views expressed by the spokesperson of the Asia-Pacific group. ILO publications should serve all constituents and it would be wrong if the publications policy were to be designed on a purely commercial basis. The ILO's objective, as stated in the proposals for the Programme and Budget for 1998-99, was to become a reference centre in the field of work; ILO publications could promote that objective but if earning money became the primary objective it could have a harmful impact on the role of the ILO. The ILO's publications should appear in a broader range of languages than just English, French and Spanish. Chinese was a working language of the Organization, yet there were few publications in Chinese, although it was a language which was widely used throughout the world. Account of this should be taken in reforming the publications policy.
110. The representative of the United Kingdom expressed appreciation for the Office paper but felt that the review process outlined in paragraphs 15 to 17 should also include a post-publication evaluation which would assess whether a publication had achieved its original objectives and help to identify lessons which could be applied to future publication decisions.
111. The representative of the Government of Canada welcomed and endorsed the document and associated her Government with the remarks of the Employers on the importance of quality, relevance and timeliness as being the essential factors for the credibility of ILO publications. The selection of publications should be guided by the core mandate and the key priorities of the Organization and the highest professional standards should be in place for the marketing, editing and publishing of ILO publications, especially for flagship publications. She agreed with the remarks made by the representative of the Pakistan Government that the publications strategy should be closely related to a research strategy and asked that this be taken into account in future documents on publications and research.
112. The representative of the Government of the Republic of Korea suggested that the Office ensure that its publications responded to the increasing demand for information on labour and employment issues in a fast-changing international environment, and it should promote joint research with other international organizations concerned with social issues. ILO publications should be easily accessible in Regional Offices to all interested parties.
113. The representative of the Government of Mexico supported the general thrust of the Office paper but did not agree that the free distribution of documents to constituents should be limited.
114. The representative of the Government of Egypt supported previous speakers who had emphasized the need for quality publications to be backed by commercial marketing strategy. It was regrettable that such a small number of ILO publications appeared in the Arabic language. Even at the annual Conference and at technical meetings documents did not appear in Arabic, and the Office should take greater account of the needs of Arabic-speaking countries.
115. The representative of the Government of Germany requested that the ILO publications, in particular publications such as the World Labour Report should be available in the German language in his country.
116. The representative of the Government of Panama suggested that the ministries of labour in member States, assisted perhaps by employers' and workers' organizations, could be called upon to help with the sale and distribution of ILO publications. This would not only reduce the costs of distribution but also involve the constituents more closely with the activities of the Organization.
117. The representative of the Government of Nigeria agreed that demand for ILO publications would increase if they were not so expensive. The ILO should consider the possibility of price discounts on its publications, especially for buyers from less developed countries. This would be easy enough to organize for publications sold in those countries, while their delegates in Geneva for conferences and technical meetings could qualify for discount prices upon production of their accreditation cards.
118. A representative of the United Nations Joint Inspection Unit informed the Committee that the General Assembly, in adopting resolution 50/206C on 23 December 1995 upon the recommendation of its Consultative Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, requested the JIU to study publications policy in organizations of the United Nations system. The Committee might be interested to know that in addition to that study the JIU also had under way two other studies on the use of information technology and the possibilities of outsourcing some publications activities, mentioned in paragraphs 36 and 46 respectively of the Office document.
119. The Deputy Director-General responsible for relations with United Nations system organizations and the Bretton Woods institutions thanked Committee members for their comments. The document set out a number of objectives which should define ILO publications policy in ways that the Committee would support. The Office was still in the process of implementing that policy and Committee members would no doubt watch future developments with interest.
120. The Office was very much aware of the Committee's concern on pricing and language matters, and these views would be reflected in future publications policy. Many ILO publications were expensive -- for example, the forthcoming Encyclopedia on Occupational Safety and Health, an important document which would account for most of the revenue increase identified in the document. She assured Committee members that publications activities contracted out were only given to enterprises which observed proper employment practices. In reply to comments from the Workers she advised the Committee that the Labour Education Journal would continue to be part of the ILO publications programme.
121. The publications policy set out in the Office paper distinguished between the dissemination of publications and the dissemination of reports from conferences and other meetings. Some comments from members concerned the distribution of these reports, but this was a matter quite separate from ILO publications policy, which was aimed at the production of high-quality publications that would see the ILO continue to be recognized as a centre of excellence in its field.
122. The Chief of the Publications Bureau said that the Office was organizing a marketing effort which would include a careful examination of pricing strategies. This exercise would not include reports from the Conference and other technical meetings, which would continue to be published as usual. In particular, the Office would analyse the policy on free distribution and would look to field offices for information on marketing strategies.
123. The salaries of marketing staff were an important element of pricing decisions because they were funded entirely from marketing income. In part these salaries would determine the extent to which prices could be adjusted in different markets and the need to fund them would continue to be an important component of marketing strategy.
124. The Committee took note of the Office paper.
Proposed rationalization of field structures for 1998-99
125. The Committee had before it a document(3) outlining proposed changes to the ILO field structure.
126. Mr. Gray, for the Worker members, thought that these proposals might have been better made as part of an in-depth evaluation of the operation of the Active Partnership Policy. As things stood it could be difficult for the Director-General to defend his proposals against those who thought they were unfairly treated. The Workers were in favour of the proposal for new MDTs in Central Africa and in North Africa and thought it was important that the ILO retain its presence in Algeria. One of the consequences of downgrading the Kinshasa Office would be the transfer of activities concerning Burundi and Rwanda, both of which were French speaking, to English-speaking Dar es Salaam, and this proposal should be reassessed or explained by the Office. The Workers would also like to be reassured that worker specialists would be participating in all of the new MDTs.
127. The Workers had received a particular request from Belize not to be transferred to a Spanish-speaking area but left with a group where they had common economic interests and problems. The ILO should look at ways of reinforcing technical support to constituents in the MERCOSUR countries where the Organization had an important opportunity and responsibility to contribute to the process of regional integration. The Office should also look at whether Egypt and the Sudan could be covered by the MDT in Lebanon, which would leave just four countries, Algeria, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Morocco and Tunisia with the North African MDT.
128. The Workers would be happy for the Office to accept Kuwait's offer to fund an ILO Office there, but it would be perhaps even more important for the ILO to establish itself in Palestine, where it already had a wide programme of activities. The Workers were concerned with the proposals to downsize the Colombo Area Office and to abolish the posts of Deputy Director in Dhaka and Manila, even though the Office had indicated that these savings would be used for MDT activities. The MDT based in India should be more active outside that country than it had been up to now. The MDT based in Budapest had done an outstanding job and in view of the demand for ILO services in Eastern Europe the Workers favoured the establishment of another MDT in Moscow. The Office should however ensure that the Budapest MDT maintained a full range of services.
129. Mr. Marshall, on behalf of the Employer members, welcomed the paper as an example of the forward thinking required in budgetary planning. The paper recognized that no single structure was appropriate for the delivery of ILO services, but a more flexible approach needed management systems to ensure that policies were being consistently applied. Field activities were of course based on the needs of the ILO constituents, but that had to be balanced with efficiency and a recognition of the cultural and linguistic characteristics of different regions. Constantly changing the field structure would clearly be very wasteful, so whatever was finally decided should be put in place for the medium to long term. It was true that there were some inconsistencies in matters of detail and other Employer members may wish to speak on specific issues, but initial discussions should focus on the general concepts proposed in the Office paper. In respect of their further development, consultation should take place with the directly affected tripartite constituents for each proposal.
130. The representative of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, speaking on behalf of the Asia and Pacific group, believed that the rationalization of field structures was a far more complicated issue, and they had expected a paper which took full account of the discussions at the previous session of the Governing Body. Appropriate criteria needed to be applied across the board, and concerned countries should be consulted. Any rationalization of field structures should take into account the needs of member States. In addition, repeated statements by the coordinators of the Asia and Pacific Government group over several years on the subject of a Branch Office were not reflected in the proposalas. The Asia and Pacific Government group requested all these elelments to be incorporated in any rationalization.
131. The representative of the Government of Algeria, speaking on behalf of the African group, said they were surprised and even worried by some of the measures proposed in the Office paper, which did not appear to reflect accurately the discussions at the March 1996 session of the Governing Body. The three possible ways of rationalizing field structures, the merging of officers, the transformation of existing structures, and the reduction of operating costs were interdependent. They had to take account not only of the particular circumstances of different countries but also of the programmes for social and economic reform adopted by many countries in the transition to market-based economies. Indeed, many of the measures proposed in the Office paper were illogical and did not take account of the situation in African countries. At a time when many of them had undertaken programmes of structural adjustment, at enormous social cost, the help and expertise of the ILO was vitally important.
132. The measures proposed in paragraph 11 of the Office paper seemed illogical because they failed to take account of political and language differences in the region. For instance, it was proposed that French-speaking Burundi and Rwanda would be served by the ILO Office in Dar es Salaam and the MDT at Addis Ababa, both English speaking. The same was proposed for Mauritius and the Seychelles, French-speaking countries which would be served by the MDT in English-speaking Harare. As mentioned in paragraph 10 of the Office paper, logic demanded the geographical coverage of area offices and MDTs should take account of the different languages and economic and political systems across the continent. Furthermore, it was not at all clear that the new proposals would save money. In view of the size of the continent, the extended geographical coverage of some offices would mean increased travel expenses, certainly more than at present.
133. The African member States requested that the proposals outlined in paragraph 11 of the Office paper be studied again in consultation with the countries concerned, as was proposed for other regions. The establishment of an MDT for the six countries of North Africa was a measure that the African member States could support even though they would prefer to have been consulted in advance. In general, the African member States would approve proposals which reinforced and strengthened ILO activities in the region. On the other hand, they could not agree to reduced activities without clear reasons and that was why they were calling for a re-examination of the proposals in paragraph 11.
134. The representative of the Government of Egypt expressed support for the comments of the previous speaker. The field structures were extremely important in providing technical cooperation services and proposals for rationalization should ensure that there was no interruption to ILO services. The MDT in Cairo originally served Sudan and the six North African countries but it was later decided to service the Magreb countries from Dakar, and the Cairo MDT was reduced to three experts. She could not agree with the Workers' suggestion that Egypt and Sudan should be covered from the Beirut office and in view of the expertise available in Egypt, the Cairo MDT should be restored to its previous level and given responsibility once again for the countries of northern Africa. She requested the reinstatement of the position of Deputy Director of the Cairo Office, which had been frozen for nearly a year, and asked the Office to provide for the financing of the Cairo Office in view of its importance and the responsibility of the Deputy Director for follow-up on ILO activities and projects to assist governments, employers and workers in the subregion. The Deputy Director had always played an important role in the subregion, and since the responsibilities of the Office, including projects, had increased, there was even greater reason to reinstate the position as soon as possible in view of the policy of decentralization, the creation of multidisciplinary teams and relations between the ILO and the League of Arab States.
135. The representative of the Government of Colombia supported the rationalization of the ILO field structure. Even so the Office paper lacked information on the repercussions of the proposals and member States would have to be assured that the quality and calibre of field programmes would not be jeopardized. In any case nothing should be done before the countries affected by such changes were consulted, and any savings realized from changing the field structure should be returned to support ILO activities in the field.
136. The representative of the Government of Turkey, referring to the proposal to transform the Ankara Area Office into a branch office asked for clarification of the criteria on which this proposal was based. Such a change could not take place over night and since technical cooperation activities based in Ankara would continue for at least two to four years, any change would have to be very carefully handled to avoid disruption to existing and pipeline programmes. He had no problem with the change in status from international to national, especially as the post had been vacant for some time.
137. The representative of the Government of Bangladesh expressed concern at the proposal to reduce the size of the Dhaka Area Office by eliminating the post of Deputy Director. A better solution to the problem of striking a balance between the size of the Office and the volume of ILO activities would be to find ways in which the services of the ILO could be expanded. The IPEC was already achieving significant results and to reduce the size of the ILO office in Bangladesh at this stage could well prove counterproductive. This proposal should be studied again and the office maintained at its present strength in the meantime.
138. The representative of the Government of Argentina drew attention to paragraph 23 of the Office paper which proposed, among other things, transforming the representation in Argentina from an area office to a branch office. His Government attached the highest importance to technical cooperation activities, which had taken on a new dimension now in the light of the process of integration with the MERCOSUR countries, and thus in principle would not be able to support any proposals designed to curtail ILO activities in Argentina. Before finally expressing an opinion on this matter it would be useful to have more information from the Office on the practical implications of a change in status for the ILO office in Argentina.
139. The representative of the Government of Brazil also referred to paragraph 23 of the Office paper, which described proposals for the transformation of Area Offices in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico into branch offices. This matter deserved further consideration before a final decision was taken, but in any case the Government of Brazil would not support this proposal if it meant a reduction in technical cooperation activities, especially as reductions had already taken place throughout the Latin American region. Brazil attached the greatest importance to the work of the ILO Area Office in Brazil and would like to see it continue at least at the same level.
140. The representative of the Government of Indonesia drew the attention of the Committee to paragraphs 4, 6 and 8 of the Office paper. She shared the concern expressed by previous speakers about the way the proposed rationalization would be applied to field structures through merging offices or cutting operating costs. Savings would be better realized through reducing overheads rather than services to constituents through technical cooperation and regional programmes. The impact of the proposals would vary from country to country at a time when the Office should surely be trying to balance the interests of constituents. These measures were not consistent with the ILO's policies of active partnership and technical cooperation at country and regional levels because they would reduce the effectiveness of the ILO's work. Field offices played a valuable role in these policies because they enabled the Organization to stay in touch with and respond to what was happening at the local level. As well, they played a key role in coordinating projects between the ILO and national governments and their capabilities should be maintained, if not improved. The rationalization of field structures could only work with the agreement of the host countries. Merging area offices in the Asia/Pacific region may not be possible because of the diversity of cultures and traditions in this region, which represented more than half the world's population. Member States were fully aware of the financial constraints facing the ILO at present but the ability of the ILO to undertake the role and functions set out in the Constitution were major considerations to be borne in mind in any comprehensive reorganization. For this reason, she could not support the proposals.
141. The representative of the Government of Congo shared the concerns expressed by previous speakers of the African Government group concerning the rationalization measures proposed by the Office. If the creation of a new MDT for Central Africa was a good thing in that it lightened the load of the Abidjan MDT, the closure of the Kinshasa Office seemed contrary to African interests. Nor was it easy to understand why the administration for French-speaking Rwanda and Burundi had to be supervised by a structure that also covered English-speaking countriues. It should be recalled that in international organizations in Africa the Great Lakes countries had always been grouped with the other Central Africa countries, which shared a common language. The closure of the Kinshasa Office was possibly due to factors covered in paragraph 9 of the Office paper. Although the subregion was undergoing a difficult period, the problems were transitory and this was no reason to close the Kinshasa Office. In the current period of sweeging political and economic change, Africe mor than ever before needed the ILO. He supported the creation of the MDT for Central Africa, but it should also cover Zaire, Rwanda and Burundi. He was in favour of maintaining the Kinshasa Area Office, and suggested that further consultations should be made before a final decision was taken.
142. The representative of the Government of Saudi Arabia expressed appreciation to members of the Committee and ILO officials who had observed one minute's silence in memory of those lost in the air disaster over India two days before.
143. Turning to the rationalization measures proposed in the Office paper, it was important not to change well-worn structures that had proved their value so, before any changes were made, the Office should hold consultations with the host countries involved. He associated himself with the remarks made by the representatives of the Governments of Algeria and Egypt, and supported the proposal for the financing of the office in Kuwait described in paragraph 15 of the Office document. It was clear that the ILO needed to establish a greater presence in Palestine and Committee members were very conscious of the untiring efforts being made by the regional office to develop a programme of action for Palestine and the Palestinian people. This was one of the most important of ILO programmes. Activities in Gaza and the West Bank were worth more than $32 million and the projects directly implemented by the ILO were worth $12 million at present. In view of the urgent and increasing needs of the Palestinian people, the Organization should take whatever steps were necessary to respond to those demands. He expressed appreciation to the Governing Body and the Director-General for their support for the Palestinian people. It should continue, because it could only promote peace and help all the peoples of the region.
144. A representative of the Arab Labour Organization appreciated the opportunity to comment on paragraphs 12, 15 and 16 of the Office paper, those of most concern to Arab countries. First of all, it was logical for the 21 Arab countries, all of which were Members of the ILO, to have the same structure as other regions: a regional office, a number of area offices, and one or perhaps two MDTs. This was a sensible structure because of the number of things the Arab countries shared in common: a language, a history and a culture. Under the present structure the Arab countries were shared among four MDTs, some of which were based outside the Arab world, which seemed contrary to common sense. The Arab Labour Organization would like the ILO to maintain the existing network of offices, and the close dialogue which had always existed between the ILO and the Arab Labour Organization should enable a satisfactory solution to be found. The Arab Labour Organization supported the proposal to set up an ILO unit in Palestine, and ideally it should be based in Jerusalem close to UNDP because of the close working relationship between the two organizations. He appreciated the Workers' support for this proposal and endorsed the proposals that had been made earlier by the representative of the Government of Algeria, and also approved the proposal put forward by the representative of the Government of Egypt concerning the post of Deputy Director of the Cairo Office.
145. Mr. Kolmogorov (Employer member) expressed support for Mr. Marshall's earlier statement but wished to comment on the proposal in paragraph 21 of the Office paper to set up a new MDT in Moscow. As Mr. Gray had remarked, this simply reflected the enormous increase in demand for MDT services in countries in this region, particularly the successor States to the USSR. The establishment of an MDT in Moscow not only gave effect to the Conference decision to bring the ILO closer to its constituents but also contributed to a process of integration in the general area of labour relations. It represented as well a rationalization of resources because these member States could be served more efficiently by an MDT based in Moscow. This was a historic decision which deserved full support in this Committee and in the Governing Body.
146. The representative of the Government of France said that the Director-General was quite right with his prediction that the Committee would open a "Pandora's box". It was already clear that it would be difficult to bring this debate to a satisfactory conclusion. Committee members of course had the right to express their views and the Committee would listen carefully to what each member had to say. But equally important was the effectiveness of this Organization. The Director-General should not be bound by the demands of member States and for this reason it seemed that this discussion was one discussion too many.
147. The representative of the Government of Suriname requested simply that member States affected by the proposals for rationalization should be consulted at an early stage. In particular, CARICOM should be consulted about the proposal to have Belize covered by the Area Office at San José because of its strong links to the English-speaking Caribbean community.
148. Mr. Sahbani (Worker member) drew attention to paragraph 12 of the Office paper which proposed an MDT for the six countries of North Africa. He recommended that this team should be based at the Area Office in Algiers, which should be strengthened so that it could carry out its responsibilities effectively.
149. Mr. Dahlan (Employer member) expressed appreciation for the efforts of the Director-General to provide services to the member States of south-west Asia. The efforts to rationalize the various structures of the Organization were welcome, but some of the regions had specific requirements which would justify their being strengthened further. The proposals for rationalization were aimed at making economies for the Organization but the conditions prevailing in the different countries should not be overlooked. Two offices in particular which should be strengthened to meet the demands for their services were Beirut and Algeria.
150. The representative of the Government of Germany expressed support for the general proposal for greater efficiency in ILO field offices and it was gratifying to see the paper covering such a wide range of possibilities. He endorsed the comments of previous speakers that countries affected by the process of rationalization should be consulted beforehand, a task for which a special working party should be established. Whatever decisions were finally reached, the Office must be given sufficient resources to carry them out.
151. Mr. Blondel (Worker member) associated himself with the comments of the Workers' spokesman and of Mr. Sahbani. It was interesting to ask the question whether the proposals for rationalization were aimed at improving the quality of ILO services or expanding the number of countries in which ILO activities were carried out. There were also a number of questions raised by the proposals concerning the Area Offices in Algiers and in Kinshasa. Were these proposals based on political considerations? He joined previous speakers who had asked for these offices to be maintained. The Committee should recognize that at the moment these countries were going through a period of unrest during which just the presence of the ILO was a symbol of democracy. To close these offices in the present circumstances could damage the ILO's reputation throughout the region.
152. Mr. Anand (Employer member) said that, in view of the present state of affairs in Sri Lanka, the Colombo office should not be downgraded at this stage. It would need help from the ILO in the near future but if changes were proposed they should be discussed not only with the social partners but with the Government of Sri Lanka. The rationalization of field activities should also include a close examination of the working of MDTs. The effectiveness of MDTs could be jeopardized if vacancies were not filled promptly and to prevent this happening it may be useful for the Office to establish a list of experts so that vacancies could be filled at short notice. Paragraph 19 of the Office paper referred to the possibility that area offices and MDTs in Asia might be merged at some future date. Any further study on this proposal should be carried out as part of the Active Partnership Policy in consultations with the social partners and the governments in member States.
153. Mr. Gray, on behalf of the Worker members, expressed support for the proposal that Mauritius and the Seychelles should be served by the MDT based in Harare. There were several common interests in this arrangement which made this proposal eminently sensible. A more difficult issue was the future of branch offices in the United States, in Japan and in Western Europe. This had been discussed on several occasions over the past few years and members of this Committee would recall that when the Ottawa office was closed it was stated that others were likely to follow. The present proposals marked a radical revision of that position and the new role planned for these offices looked ambitious and perhaps unrealistic. In any case, an attempt to promote active partnership in the industrialized countries should definitely include a role for the branch offices to mobilize resources for technical cooperation -- one of the key elements of the ILO's technical cooperation strategy.
154. The representative of the Government of Hungary drew attention to paragraph 21 of the Office document where there seemed to be an implied criticism of the work of the MDT in Budapest. The Committee should be assured that the Budapest MDT had been highly successful and had achieved excellent results. It was only a lack of resources that prevented it from taking on more work. He expressed support for the establishment of an MDT in Moscow, provided it did not result in reduced funding for the Budapest office, which could function as an area office and an MDT base at the same time. Countries covered by the Budapest office were greatly in need of ILO expertise and the Committee should remember that the recent European Regional Conference in Warsaw had recommended that resources for the Budapest office should be strengthened.
155. The representative of the Government of Mexico expressed appreciation for the Office paper and the opportunity of having a discussion on this subject. Paragraph 23 of the paper referred to the possible transformation of the Mexico Area Office into a branch office. It was not clear exactly what the results of such a transformation would be but the Mexican Government had always regarded ILO technical cooperation activities as vitally important and would not wish to see them curtailed. Further discussions should be held on this matter before any final decisions were taken.
156. The representative of the Government of the Russian Federation was grateful for the expressions of support for the establishment of an MDT in Moscow. He associated himself with the comments of the representative of the Government of Hungary that the establishment of an MDT in Moscow should not be seen in any way as a criticism of the work carried out by the MDT in Budapest. The proposal for an MDT in Moscow was based solely on the increased demand in the region for MDT services.
157. The representative of the Government of South Africa agreed with the comments of the representative of the Government of Algeria concerning the proposals for rationalization throughout the African region. The process of rationalization could be justified in many ways and it would be useful to have more information from the Office on whether these proposals were based on technical, financial, managerial or political considerations. Whatever the reason, there should be more consultation with affected constituents before final decisions were agreed. It would be useful also if the Committee could be informed on how the savings from rationalization would be spent. These issues should be fully discussed in a regional strategic plan of action that Committee members could discuss rather than simply accept the transformation and closure of offices.
158. The representative of the Government of the United Kingdom and Mr. Marshall for the Employers, endorsed wholeheartedly the earlier remarks of the representative of the Government of France.
159. Mr. M'Kaissi (Employer member) had some comments concerning the Area Office in Algiers. This office had already existed for many years and had fulfilled its role to the complete satisfaction of constituents. There was every reason to strengthen its activities and give it the resources necessary for it to respond to the needs of countries in North Africa. There was no valid reason for it to be closed or for its work to be transferred elsewhere. He asked that no decision be taken on the future of the Algiers office before full consultations with North African member States, especially Algeria, and the social partners.
160. The representative of the Government of the United States expressed appreciation for the work of the Director-General in addressing this complex issue and joined previous speakers in support of the statement from the representative of the Government of France. It was necessary to take a vigorous look at the duplication of work in the field and the Office paper correctly identified the administrative practices which were in need of review. In the context of decentralization he expressed support for the concept of rationalizing field structures. Any increase in the field structure should be accompanied by offsetting reductions at headquarters in terms of both financial and human resources. The key was for the field structure to be flexible so it could easily be deployed to meet the changing needs of the constituents or the evolving priorities of the Organization. The Director-General should be encouraged to continue consultations with affected constituents as rationalization plans were developed and refined.
161. The Director-General started by thanking Mr. Gray for his initial presentation, to which everyone in the room had listened with great interest. He then recalled that the discussion held and the document submitted were the direct outcome of a decision of the Governing Body. He had drawn the Governing Body's attention to the danger of holding such a discussion, by pointing out that it was hazardous to open the "Pandora's box". It now had to draw the conclusions from this. He also noted the strong words used by Mr. Chotard, which he tempered somewhat, that the right of peoples to self-determination did not imply the right of peoples to determine the use for themselves of the ILO budget. In reply to Mr. Blondel, the Director-General specified that he would not find in the document any mention of a proposal to close the Office in Algiers. In reply to the remarks made by Mr. Etty and others, the Director-General pointed out that the sentence "The MDT in Budapest is not in a position to handle satisfactorily the request for technical services ... " was not intended to be a value judgement. The volume of work which this MDT had to handle was so great that it was impossible to do so in a satisfactory way. Concerning paragraph 23 of the report, he recalled that the sentence which had been criticized read as follows: "It could well be that similar transformations might interest other countries such as Argentina, Brazil and Mexico ...". It had been impossible to find any expressions that were more conditional and allusive than that. This was merely a hypothesis. Starting with these three factors, the Director-General took note of the wise decision of the Governing Body not to intervene in or discuss these problems again without there being satisfactory consultation with the member States. This had been registered and this is what would be done. The Governing Body had also taken note of all the comments made by the member States concerning their own interests or the interests of their regions. The Office would try to come to some sort of conclusion on what could be done; in other words not very much for the budget in March.
162. The Chairman expressed appreciation to the Director-General for his reply and as there were no further speakers calling for the floor he declared the discussion closed.
163. The Committee took note of the Office paper.
Geneva, 19 November 1996.
(Signed)
C. Gray,
Reporter.