ILO observes its 90th anniversary

Holiday desk
Amid the worst financial and jobs crisis, the International Labour Organization (ILO) is marking its 90th anniversary with a series of events across the world.
The week-long programme (21-28 April) of celebration was a global convergence on the common theme of social dialogue on decent work for a fair globalization in commemorative events in more than 100 countries in the world.?
This year’s celebration focused on the theme of social dialogue on decent work for a fair globalization. Worldwide, more than 100 countries will join, launching a global initiative aimed at fostering hope and action for an embattled world of work.
Local events took many forms, from dialogues involving labour, employers and governments to heads of state, parliamentarians, academics, and civil society.? These included ratification of international labour standards, the launch of Decent Work Country Programmes, and technical workshops exploring solutions to the financial crisis, to job fairs and the award of government decent work prizes. A new volume entitled “The ILO and the Quest for Social Justice, 1919-2009” was also launched on this occasion.
In Dhaka, ??the ILO will bring out a procession from the Central Shaheed Minar premises on May 3 and it will be terminated at Muktangan. It will also arrange a discussion at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre on the day, marking its 90th anniversary.
At a briefing in Dhaka marking the 90th anniversary of the ILO and 36 years of its operation in Bangladesh, country director Panudda Boonpala, on Wednesday called for dialogues among the stakeholders to face the impacts of global economic recession.
‘We are passing through a critical time amid the global recession that will trigger huge job cuts. The stakeholders in Bangladesh should sit in dialogues for working out measures to face the challenges,’ Boonpala said.
Economists and labour leaders, who attended the briefing, demanded fixing of minimum wages for the workers in the country’s informal sectors.
Speaking on the occasion Quazi Kholiquzzman Ahmad observed that the global economic system was needed to be overhauled and the rights of the workers should be established, ensuring their security at the workplaces and good working condition.
Labour leader Abdul Matin Master said the sections 87 and 88 of the ILO Convention were yet to be implemented in Bangladesh and the labourers were denied of their rights to form trade union.

Courtesy of Weekly Holiday