22. Discuss the following:

1. The African Union Says Its Word on Disputed Territories.

2. AU Force Backs the Governments in the Fight Against Militants.

Unit 4

The International Labour Organization

Read the text and decide whether the sentences are true or false:

In 1919, when the ILO was founded during the Versailles peace negotiations at the close of World War I, it became part of the UN’s predecessor, the League of Nations, along with the International Institute of Commerce. While the League eventually died, the ILO continued to function and found a new home in 1946 as the UN’s first specialized agency.

The ILO is unique among international organizations. Not only is it the oldest international body still in existence, but it has also been associated with some of the most important and ambitious accomplishments of the twentieth century – universal worker rights, labor laws, and work standards, not least improving the lives of women and children. Immediately after its founding, the ILO took up the work and social status of women, who have been the subject of ILO agreements ever since. For example, soon after the UN’s founding, in 1949, the ILO adopted the Convention Concerning Equal Remuneration for Men and Women Workers for Work of Equal Value.

Since children are the most vulnerable members of the society, adults can easily engage them in hazardous and exploitative labor or sexual abuse, or traffic them across borders. According to the ILO, some 250 million children ages five to fourteen work in all regions of the world, 50-60 million of them in hazardous environments. Most of them live in Asia (61 percent) and Africa (32 percent). Over two-thirds of them work in agriculture. Of course, children who work go to school less, if at all. Worse, working children of today are likely to become the parents of working children tomorrow, perpetuating a vicious cycle of ignorance and oppression. To break this cycle, 174 ILO member states in 1999 unanimously adopted a new convention (No. 182) to supplement the ILO’s 1973 Minimum Age Convention (No. 138) on the worst Forms of Child Labor. As of July 2005, 156 countries had ratified the updated convention, making it the fastest-ratified in the organization’s history. Recent ILO success stories include tougher child labor regulations in the Bangladeshi textile industry and in Pakistani soccer ball manufacturing.

Work lies at the heart of human activity, so the ILO is active in all parts of the globe and cooperates with many other UN bodies. It worked with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to regulate fishing in international waters. It has sought to protect workers from environmental hazards, prevent early disability, and promote vocational training or job placement. It contributed its Fundamental Principles on Rights at Work to the Global Compact, a path-breaking initiative launched by Secretary-General Annan in 2000 to engage corporations in making globalization work for all. Already in1969 the ILO had received the Nobel Peace Prize for its work.

The ILO’s rules and structure differ from those of other international bodies. As an agency under the ECOSOC umbrella, it is a functional organization much like the IMF and the World Bank; but while the IMF and the Bank create their own guidelines for how they will assist countries in need, the ILO enjoys advisory status and answers requests for technical assistance by member states. It resembles more the General Assembly or the Security Council than the Bank or the Fund: its conventions and resolutions build a body of universal labor laws and worker rights. In this way, it is a quasi-legislature.

There are clear rules for joining or leaving the ILO. The admission of a new member state needs a two-thirds majority to pass. A unique appointment rule helps the ILO ensure transnational democracy: each member state sends to the three ILO organs (the International Labour Conference, the Governing Body, and the International Labour Office) one delegate from each of the three groups – its government, employers, and labor unions. By bringing representatives from all three sectors to every level of decision making, the ILO enhances participation by subnational actors. This triangular cooperation also makes the ILO transparent, because the negotiating opponents with a stake in labor issues face off on every issue under discussion. For example, member governments cannot push through a convention that would give too much to employers, because worker delegates are also there to safeguard their rights and act as check against excessive powers, and vice versa. The ILO’s relative transparency and overrule procedures allow for monitoring by outside groups and parliaments.

The ILO’s very mission makes it a guardian of democracy, since it looks out for worker rights everywhere. Despite its successes, much work remains to be undone, especially in terms of the ILO’s independence, given the lopsided funding by the United States of over one-fifth of its budget. But its tripartite decision-making, which puts contentious issues on the agenda and has helped parties resolve them, is worth emulating by other international organizations.

1. The ILO was founded during the Rome peace negotiations.______

2. Ten years later, the ILO took up the work and social status of women.______

3. Children can be harmed easily, adults easily engage them in exploitative labour abuse._____

4. The ILO is active in all parts of the globe and cooperates with many other WHO bodies.______

5. The ILO’s rules and structure differ from those of other international bodies._____

6. There are confusing rules for joining and leaving of the ILO._____

7. The admission of a new member state needs a two- thirds majority to pass._____

8. An appointment rule helps the ILO ensure national democracy._____

9. The relative transparency allows for monitoring by outside groups and parliaments.____

10. The ILO’s mission makes it a guardian of peace and democracy._____

Choose the most suitable word(s) and fill in the gaps:

1. Initially, the ILO became part of the _________ along with the International Institute of Commerce.

1. League of Nations

2. WTO

3. GATT

4. FAO

1. Soon after the UN’s founding, the ILO adopted the __________ Concerning Equal Remuneration for Men and Women Workers for Work of Equal Value.

1. Statute

2. Declaration

3. Convention

4. Law

1. The ILO seeks to protect workers from ___________, prevent early disability, and promote vocational training.

1. economic crisis

2. political reforms

3. environmental hazards

4. racial attacks

4. By bringing representatives from all three sectors to every level of decision making, the ILO enhances participation by __________ actors.

a) regional

b) national

c) international

d) subnational

5. This triangular __________ makes the ILO transparent.

a) frustration

b) cooperation

c) resignation

d) discrimination

Exercises and Tasks

1. Complete the text with the following words: excessive, safeguard, face, delegate, sends, organization, regulate, labor, work, regions, ages, accomplishments, associated, League, function.

1. While the __________ eventually died, the ILO continued to __________ and found a new home as the UN’s first specialized agency.

2. It is __________ with some of the most important and ambitious _________ of the twentieth century.

3. According to the ILO, some 250 million children _________ five to fourteen work in all _________ of the world.

4. Children who ________ go to school less, if at all.

5. Recent ILO success stories include tougher child ________ regulations in the Bangladeshi textile industry.

6. The ILO worked with the FAO to _________ fishing in international waters.

7. It is a functional _________ much like the IMF and the World Bank.

8. Each member state ________ to the three ILO organs one _________ from each of the three groups, its government, employers, and labor unions.

9. The negotiating opponents with a stake in labor issues ______ off on every issue under discussion.

10. Worker delegates are there to_________ their rights and act as check against _________ powers.