Geneva, Jan 21 (AFP/APP):Five candidates battling to take the helm of the United Nations’ labour agency completed two days of hearings Friday where they set out their visions for the organisation’s future.
Issuing promises around social dialogue, the right to strike and more diversity, the five, including three former government ministers, presented their cases for becoming the next head of the International Labour Organization.
Two women are in the running to succeed British trade unionist Guy Ryder when he completes his second five-year term, in a post only ever held by men.
“I would like to be the first female director-general of the ILO in more than 100 years,” Muriel Penicaud, a former French labour minister, said during her presentation.
Founded in 1919, the ILO is the oldest specialised UN agency, with 187 member states, which are, uniquely in the UN system, represented by governments, employers and workers.
Headquartered in a vast 1960s-designed rationalist rectangular block, the ILO aims to promote rights at work, encourage good employment opportunities, enhance social protection and strengthen dialogue on work-related issues.
Besides Penicaud, the candidates are Togo’s former prime minister Gilbert Houngbo, South Korea’s ex-foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha, entrepreneur Mthunzi Mdwaba of South Africa, and ILO deputy Greg Vines of Australia.
Whoever wins, a change is on the cards: the ILO’s 10 chiefs so far have all been men from Europe or the Americas.
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