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ILO Governing Body - Second EU Statement on the Update on the Global Coalition for Social Justice

24.03.2023
Geneva
Press and information team of the Delegation to the UN in Geneva

European Union

Statement

 

ILO Governing Body, 347th session 

13 March – 23 March 2023

 

 

Second EU Statement

on the Update on the Global Coalition for Social Justice

GB.347/INS/4

 

Geneva, 22 March 2023

 

 

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ILO Governing Body, 347th session

13 March to 23 March 2023

 

Second Statement on the

Update on the Global Coalition for Social Justice

 

GB.347/INS/4

Second EU statement

Chair,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The Candidate Countries Albania*, Bosnia and Herzegovina*, the Republic of North Macedonia*, Moldova, Montenegro*, the potential candidate country Georgia, the EFTA countries Iceland and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, and Armenia align themselves with this statement.

  1. The European Union and its Member States as declared in the statement delivered last week indicated their strong support for the development of the Global Coalition for Social Justice and its ambition. There is an urgent need for social justice worldwide and the ILO is the organisation best placed, by virtue of its constitutional mandate, to infuse social justice and ILO values and principles into the broader multilateral system and beyond.
  2. We thank the Office for preparing the additional document which clarifies and addresses some of our concerns with the further information provided.
  3. We still do not see exactly what the final governance structure will look like which needs to be concrete. We would also like to understand how the steering Committee will be set up and by whom?
  4. The proposed timetable, although busy, should allow for engagement and taking ownership of the initiative entrusting the constituents through tripartite consultations.
  5. We are pleased that you Mr Director General expect to be a co-chair, not only because the ILO is best placed to coordinate social justice initiatives across the multilateral system, but also as you have been elected by constituents based on this ambition. Therefore, we count on you to guide us through this process and transmit the views of this Organisation and its constituents. 
  6. We find it essential that the tripartite dimension is well-embedded in the governance and implementation structure.
  7. We appreciate that the ILO has already initiated various actions that are in line with the Global Coalition on Social Justice and support the Director General on his important and ambitious goal.
  8. The EU and its Member States have continuously underlined the importance of close cooperation with the appropriate UN agencies in the first hand, multilateral institutions, the Bretton Woods Institutions, WTO and others stakeholders, that could make an effective contribution to the realisation of this ambitious objective.  
  9. While we reiterate our support of this initiative, there is a need however to clarify certain aspects such as budgetary implications and the impact on the work of the ILO as a whole. We trust that this will be discussed during the proposed tripartite consultations.
  10. With this, we support the decision point.

 

Thank you, Chair.

 

[*Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.]