ILO seeks way to respond to dramatic social and economic changes.

• Position: International Labor Organization

Ways to respond more vigorously to social and economic changes taking place in the world were explored by the Governing Body of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) at its 1990 spring session (Geneva, 15 February-2 March).

Dramatic developments with important social implications" were the focus of ILO Director-General Michel Hansenne's opening statement at a consultation on ILO programme and budget proposals for the 1992-1993 biennium. Surveying the global labour scene, he noted the start of a "new epoch" for South Africa with the release of political activist Nelson Mandela and the surge towards democratization in Eastern Europe and elsewhere.

Such reforms would bring the ILO closer to many countries "in which the social institutions associated with tripartism are being established for the first time, or are being significantly reinforced", he said.

Those changes represented a considerable opportunity" to help the world develop towards values and standards defended by the ILO, he added. The Body now needed the means to make the required "important additional efforts".

Substantial support was given to five proposed priorities for the 1992-1993 programme: defence of human rights and a greater degree of observance of ILO standards; equality between men and women; employment promotion, together with the design of socially acceptable structural adjustment programmes; elimination of poverty; and improvement of the environment. The link between development and standards-particularly those on human rights-had to be maintained in all the Organisation's activities, it was stressed.

The Governing Body also recommended that the International Labour Conference Selection Committee meet to...