FOR the first time in its history, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) member States are meeting virtually, due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, for the 109th edition of the International Labour Conference (ILC) which opened on Thursday.

The ILC is the global parliament of labour, affording governments, employers' and workers' organisations of member States a unique opportunity to hold tripartite discussions about social and labour issues, as well as matters related to the world of work.

Mr Omar Zniber (Morocco), was elected President of the Conference in its opening session. He described his election as "a source of pride" for his country and the African region.

"This year, our conference takes on a special format and is particularly significant, in view of its deferral last year for reasons we all know too well. Needless to say, high expectations have been placed in the work we will undertake," he added.

ILO Director-General Mr Guy Ryder welcomed the start of the ILC and the important role to be played by the newly-elected Conference President. "After the unavoidable deferral of this session last year, I believe that all ILO constituents – governments, employers and workers – shared a common determination that this conference should go ahead at this time because we had essential work to do and because the institutional continuity of our organisation depended very heavily upon it."

Three Conference Vice-Presidents were also elected during the session, Mr Chad Blackman (Barbados) representing the government group; Ms Ronnie Goldberg (US) representing the employers' group, and Ms Annette Chipeleme (Zambia) representing the workers' group.

The conference will reopen on June 3, when most committees will begin their work and run over a period of two and a half weeks. The plenary will resume on June 7 and will be in session until June 19.

Items on the agenda in June include a special outcome document on the ILO response to COVID-19, the ILO's programme and budget for 2022-23, the recurrent discussion on social protection, and consideration of the reports on the application of labour standards during the pandemic and related country case discussions.

The World of Work Summit will take place on June 17- 18, with a high-level segment with heads of State and government and a panel discussion with tripartite representatives.

The second segment of the conference will take place from November 25-December 11, with an agenda that includes thematic discussions on inequalities and the world of work, as well as skills and life-long learning.