DURBAN--This conference is
about discrimination of various sorts. And when
does discrimination hurt most? When it affects
a person's livelihood and well being. In other
words--the work place. Somebody who is racially,
or otherwise, discriminated against where he
is working (or where he is hoping to work) is
hit at the most profound level. That stands to
reason. It also stands to reason that one of
the main players--perhaps the key player--with
a major contribution to make at the WCAR is the
man who lays down the international benchmarks
for the work place, the Director General of the
International Labor Organization (ILO), Juan
Somavia. Chilean by birth, upbringing and education,
he moved from an academic career to diplomacy,
becoming Chile's Permanent Representative at
the UN in 1990, a position he occupied for almost
a decade. Considering his considerable research
on trade union and social movements in Latin
America, he was a natural choice for the ILO
Director General's post in 1999. Conference News
Daily met with him before he threw himself into
the usual hurly-burly of UN conference politics.
He was accompanied by Lee Swepston, Chief of
ILO's Equality Branch and an expert on indigenous
and tribal people, who also took part in the
interview
Why is the ILO here?
"We are here because we want to take the
conclusions of the conference and have them implemented
through ILO," comes the answer just as easily. "What
the conference is about is really what the ILO
is about."
In what way?
"We have a
number of instruments that can actually promote
and develop the objectives of
this conference. Basically, the fact is that racism
is a work-based issue. Racism repeats itself potentially
day to day. If you are unemployed, then racism
becomes an additional obstacle to the attending
discrimination that may exist, such as being poor,
uneducated or a woman. So, the world of work, whether
you are in it or out of it, is a key space where
racism affects the life of people. And we are in
the business of getting discrimination out of the
work place."
How?
"We have mechanisms.
The first is the standard setting capacity of
the ILO. This expresses itself
through conventions and recommendations. These
conventions perform two functions. One is the fact
that they are approved by the ILO within its tripartite
structure - Government, employers and workers.
So, having it approved by that structure, that
convention becomes a source of good policy and
practice in that particular field. We establish
a criteria for good practice. Countries can go
further. They can take that convention, ratify
it and make it part of their national law, which
is the second function we perform."
How many countries have done that?
"There have
been 20 ratifications in the last five years.
For instance, the convention on
Freedom of Association, which is fundamental to
expressing your voice. This has been ratified by
141 countries. Then, we have the supervisory machinery
system, which is an independent system."
How does that function?
"We provide
space for complaints, provide help, in the form
of outside experts, to resolve
any problems. We check if national legislation
conforms to the ILO convention."
Can you give some concrete examples?
"In 1999,
we put out the first global report on freedom
of association. One group which had
a problem in this area was the oil-producing Gulf
states. So, we sat down with them and explained
that this was a fundamental objective of ILO. The
result was that Saudi Arabia has created a 'Committee
of Workers,' Bahrain has just legalized trade unions
and Qatar is in the process of having a dialogue
with our experts."
Do such countries come to you voluntarily?
"Yes, absolutely.
No way we can go to a country and say, 'You have
a problem and we have received
complaints.' But in a sense all countries are under
pressure because they are ILO members. A national
trade union can come to us and say that they have
a problem with their government. Then, our committee
on Freedom of Association analyses the problem
and gives an opinion and we try to talk to the
two parties. But there is no imposition."
Any other objectives which are directly related
to the WCAR?
"Yes, we provide
technical and policy assistance, with the aim
of moving forward on discriminatory
laws, on the plight of indigenous people, gender
inequality, and so on. Another important objective
is to promote social dialogue to reduce discrimination
at the work place. Sometimes you discriminate without
realizing it. Discrimination is very subjective.
It depends on how you have been brought up. If
you don't sit down and acknowledge discrimination
as a problem, you won't go forward."
Can you elaborate on that?
"Yes, let
me give you an example. I was recently in New
York for the HIV/AIDS Conference. The conference
was going to arrive at certain conclusions and
the ILO needed to find out what it could do to
implement those conclusions. I said at the conference,
'You have approved all these matters. Well, we
at ILO have the tools to make it happen.' Till
now, AIDS has been looked at as a family problem,
a community problem, not been treated as a work
place issue. We have produced a code of practice
for the work place on AIDS, which could be negotiated
by representatives of employers, workers and the
government. I decided the first place the code
should be implemented is with the ILO staff worldwide.
I have also asked the UN Secretary General to do
the same for the entire UN organization, that the
UN can be seen to be leading by example."
What about discrimination against migrant workers,
like against Turks in Germany?
"It's when
people migrate that countries who were never
aware of discrimination become aware
of their own discriminatory attitudes."
What does ILO hope to get out of this conference?
"A strong
reaffirmation that racism is a work place issue
and that we need policies geared
to tackle it there."
|
