| GB.267/PFA/14
267th Session November 1996 |
| Programme, Financial and Administrative Committee | PFA |
FOURTEENTH ITEM ON THE AGENDA
Child-care facilities for delegates attending ILO meetings
1. The Programme, Financial and Administrative Committee discussed the question of child-care facilities at its 264th Session (November 1995) (1) and again at its 265th Session (March 1996). (2) It was decided that the Office should present a paper to the Committee at the present session which would outline the facilities that could be made available for delegates attending major ILO meetings.
2. The Office had already examined a number of possible solutions to the problem of child-care facilities and found that the best proposal was to join forces with an existing crèche. However, this was at a time when the intention was to cater for the children of officials as well as those of delegates. For delegates' children only, the number of places needed is not likely to be large, and the requirement is intermittent. In this case, the best solution would be to deal with the requests on a case-by-case basis and find places with host families or temporary vacancies in crèches. The Office would then finance the administration of the scheme, finding the required number of places, arranging transport where necessary and paying the cost of the care.
3. It is estimated that the work involved in providing this service would amount to some two months of General Service resources per annum (US$19,120) or US$38,240 for the biennium. The cost of the care is estimated at an average of US$43 per child-day (converted at the budget exchange rate of SFr1.16 to US$1). It is not possible to give an accurate estimate of the total cost of the care, since it will take some time to obtain the necessary experience of the demand. However, assuming an average of five to ten children each year for an average of 25 days (for example, two sessions of the Governing Body, or a session of the International Labour Conference) then the range of this cost component would be between US$11,000 and US$22,000 per biennium. (The figures are rounded upwards to allow a sum for transport.) The total cost per biennium is estimated at between US$49,000 and US$60,000.
4. The Programme, Financial and Administrative Committee may wish to recommend to the Governing Body that it instruct the Director-General to institute a scheme as described above, as from 1 January 1997, and that it be financed from savings in the current biennium, and that for future biennia this item should be included in the programme and budget.
Geneva, 8 October 1996.
Point for decision: Paragraph 4.