The moral idea, 'If you desire peace, cultivate justice’, which laid at the heart of the ILO’s foundation one hundred years ago, remains just as relevant today, in a world undergoing profound economic and technological transformation and increasing global inequality. How has the ILO adapted to change over time? What steps has the Organization taken to protect the most vulnerable? How well is it prepared and positioned to confront the new challenges of the 4th Industrial Revolution?

International Development Policy Journal’s 11th thematic release aims to enrich the debate on the ILO’s purpose and relevance in the modern working world. The articles highlight the progress and gaps to date, as well as the constraints and circumstances that confront the ILO in its efforts to respond to the new dilemmas and challenges with regard to labour and social protection.

The main aim of this event is to bring several of the authors of this volume together with experts in social protection and the future of work to debate how the ILO faces today’s challenges of the labour market. Some of the questions we will address are: what have been the successes and difficulties? How is the modern conception of “work” changing, and how can each actor play a role in cultivating justice in the working world?

Read online in Open Access.

Programme:

12:15

Welcome and Introduction by Christophe Gironde, Managing Director and Co-Editor of this edition of the International Development Policy

12:25

Velibor Jakovleski, Head of Research at the Global Governance Centre at the  Graduate Institute of Geneva, co-author of Chapter 5: “The ILO’s Role in Global Governance: Limits and Potentials”    

• Critical commentary by Gerry Rogers, former director of the ILO International Institute for Labour Studies (IILS)

12:50

Christine Verschuur, retired Senior Lecturer at the Graduate Institute, author of Chapter 8: “From the Centre to the Margins and Back Again: Women in Agriculture at the ILO”

• Critical commentary by Mariangels Fortuny, Head of Forestry, Agriculture, Construction and Tourism Unit (FACT) at the ILO

13:15

Karl Hanson, Deputy Director of the University of Geneva’s Centre for Children's Rights Studies, co-author of Chapter 7: “The ILO’s Shifts in Child Labour Policy: Regulation and Abolition”

• Critical commentary by Thomas Wissing, Head of Advocacy and Partnerships Unit at the ILO / Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work Branch

13:40   

Questions and answers with the audience

This event is jointly organised with the Interdisciplinary Masters Programmes in International Affairs and Development Studies at the Graduate Institute.  

International Development Policy is a scholarly, open-access, e-journal based at The Graduate Institute, Geneva. Issues are available online at: www.devpol.org