ilo
International Labour Organisation
International Labour Organisation
The establishment of ILO in 1919 was part of the Treaty of Versailles after World War I and as such closely linked to notions of social justice as necessary for universal and lasting peace. Since 1946, the ILO has been a specialised UN agency, and is the oldest organisation within the UN system. Since 1920, it has been headquartered in Geneva.
ILO focuses on promoting social justice and decent work globally through monitoring compliance with the international labour standards and human rights standards. This currently consists of 191 conventions and 204 non-binding recommendations. Ensuring that countries implement international conventions on labour standards that they ratify, monitoring the application of these, and providing technical assistance in this field, are the core functions of the ILO.
Support for governments and social partners’ initiatives to create jobs, guarantee rights at work, including rights of workers, extend social protection, and promote social dialogue is the focus of ILO’s Decent Work Agenda. This agenda is based on the recognition of work as central to broader social and economic advancement and has four strategic pillars: job creation, rights at work, social protection and social dialogue, and gender equality as a crosscutting objective.
ILO differs from other specialised or subsidiary UN agencies, funds, and programs in its tripartite structure of governance. Member states are thus represented at ILO meetings by governments while workers and of employers are also represented. The governance structure of the organisation includes a general conference – the International Labour Conference (ILC), a board – the Governing Body (GB), and a Secretariat – the International Labour Organisation Office.
The organisation plays an important role not only in international social and economic cooperation, but also within the international human rights framework, as the guardian of some of the basic international human rights instruments. The most prominent of these are the ILO´s ten core conventions, such as Conventions 87 and 98 on freedom of association and collective bargaining, respectively. Country reporting, assessments of reports, and the organisation’s complaints procedures supplement other important UN human rights instruments in areas pertaining to labour standards, workers’ rights, and social security, thus emphasising ILO’s role in respect to both civil and political rights as well as economic, social, and cultural rights.
As the key international agency in the world of work, ILO is a natural partner for Denmark in development assistance. In 2023-27, Denmark plans to support ILO with voluntary funding of DKK 130 million in total for its Regular Budget Supplementary Account. With this un-earmarked funding, Denmark expects the ILO´s efforts to focus, among other things on creating more green job opportunities in Africa.
Read more about Denmark’s collaboration with ILO in the Danish Organisation Strategy for ILO here
Further information is available on: http://www.ilo.org
Updated January 2025
The establishment of ILO in 1919 was part of the Treaty of Versailles after World War I and as such closely linked to notions of social justice as necessary for universal and lasting peace. Since 1946, the ILO has been a specialised UN agency, and is the oldest organisation within the UN system. Since 1920, it has been headquartered in Geneva.
ILO focuses on promoting social justice and decent work globally through monitoring compliance with the international labour standards and human rights standards. This currently consists of 191 conventions and 204 non-binding recommendations. Ensuring that countries implement international conventions on labour standards that they ratify, monitoring the application of these, and providing technical assistance in this field, are the core functions of the ILO.
Support for governments and social partners’ initiatives to create jobs, guarantee rights at work, including rights of workers, extend social protection, and promote social dialogue is the focus of ILO’s Decent Work Agenda. This agenda is based on the recognition of work as central to broader social and economic advancement and has four strategic pillars: job creation, rights at work, social protection and social dialogue, and gender equality as a crosscutting objective.
ILO differs from other specialised or subsidiary UN agencies, funds, and programs in its tripartite structure of governance. Member states are thus represented at ILO meetings by governments while workers and of employers are also represented. The governance structure of the organisation includes a general conference – the International Labour Conference (ILC), a board – the Governing Body (GB), and a Secretariat – the International Labour Organisation Office.
The organisation plays an important role not only in international social and economic cooperation, but also within the international human rights framework, as the guardian of some of the basic international human rights instruments. The most prominent of these are the ILO´s ten core conventions, such as Conventions 87 and 98 on freedom of association and collective bargaining, respectively. Country reporting, assessments of reports, and the organisation’s complaints procedures supplement other important UN human rights instruments in areas pertaining to labour standards, workers’ rights, and social security, thus emphasising ILO’s role in respect to both civil and political rights as well as economic, social, and cultural rights.
As the key international agency in the world of work, ILO is a natural partner for Denmark in development assistance. In 2023-27, Denmark plans to support ILO with voluntary funding of DKK 130 million in total for its Regular Budget Supplementary Account. With this un-earmarked funding, Denmark expects the ILO´s efforts to focus, among other things on creating more green job opportunities in Africa.
Read more about Denmark’s collaboration with ILO in the Danish Organisation Strategy for ILO here
Further information is available on: http://www.ilo.org
Updated January 2025