President leads delegation to the International Labour Organisation Centenary Conference

President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Monday, 10 June 2019, lead the South African delegation to the International Labour Organisation (ILO)’s Centenary Conference in Geneva in Switzerland where the 108th session of the International Labour Conference convenes  under the theme   “Building a Better Future with Decent Work” from 10 -21 June 2019.
 
President Ramaphosa was appointed as the co-chair of the International Labour Organisation’s Global Commission on the Future of Work Report on 10 May 2018, where alongside co-chair  Prime Minister Stefan Löfven of the Kingdom of Sweden led a team of distinguished Commissioners who were mandated to seek recommendations to  changes in the global economy as a result of technological advancement , demography, globalisation and climate change and how that impacts workers and the nature and future of work. 
 
 The Global Commission on the Future of Work was International launched on 22 January 2019 at the Headquarters of the International labour Organisation in Geneva marking the start of the centennial year of the ILO. The Future of Work Report made ten recommendations which are guided by a human – centred agenda which proposes that the social contract can be strengthened by placing people and the work they do at the centre of economic, social policy and business practice. South Africa hosted the local launch of the report on 01 March 2019 in KwaZulu-Natal Province.
 
The President will address the high level sitting of the 108th session of the ILO’s International Labour Conference where the outcomes of the Global Commission on the Future of Work will be presented to invited Heads of State and Government during the occasion of the centenary celebration of the International Labour Organisation.  The ILO’s International Labour Conference is an annual gathering of governments, labour and business to deliberate on contemporary issues of mutual interest in the global labour markets and adopts international labour standards open to ratification by the 187 member states.  
 
It is twenty five years since South Africa re-joined the International Labour Organisation and it has since the advent of democracy adopted legislature and programmes that are in support of social justice and decent work. In 2018 South Africa hosted the Jobs Summit where all social partners forged a common drive to effectively collaborate in addressing challenges that unblock growth in the South African economy and will ensure inclusive growth and create employment in the face of changing world dynamics.  President Ramaphosa signed into law the historic National Minimum Wage Act which will bridge the inequality gap by protecting   low-paid workers and provides a firm foundation to eradicate poverty.
 
President Ramaphosa will be accompanied by the Minister of Employment and Labour, Mr Thembelani Nxesi, and a delegation of the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) members to the Centenary Conference of the ILO and its 108th session of the International Labour Conference.
 

Media enquiries: Khusela Diko, Spokesperson to the President on 072 854 5707
 
Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria