International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations (UN) agency that promotes decent work throughout the world. The only ‘tripartite’ UN agency brings together representatives of governments, employers and workers to jointly shape policies and programs is ILO. ILO was established as an agency of the League of Nations following the Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I.
One of the principal functions of the ILO is setting international labour standards through the adoption of conventions and recommendations covering a broad spectrum of labour-related subjects. Its main aims are to promote rights at work, encourage decent employment opportunities, enhance social protection and strengthen dialogue in handling work-related issues. The ILO is the global body responsible for drawing up and overseeing international labour standards. Working with its Member States, the ILO seeks to ensure that labour standards are respected in practice as well as principle.
In the view of the ILO, the main route out of poverty is work. ILO’s vision of decent work is that work is central to people’s well-being and decent work sums up the aspirations of people in their working lives. Today, the ILO helps advance the creation of decent jobs and the kinds of economic and working conditions that give working people and business people a stake in lasting peace, prosperity and progress.
The ILO organizes the International Labour Conference in Geneva every year, where conventions and recommendations are crafted and adopted. The conference also makes decisions on the ILO’s general policy, work program and budget.
