“My appointment to the ILO Global Commission represents an important opportunity for all of us who are deeply committed within AIWF and our network of valued Global Partners to make a valuable contribution to a more prosperous and secure future through ensuring decent jobs for all especially women and young people in the MENA region and globally.”
Haifa Fahoum Al Kaylani
Founder & Chairman, Arab International Women’s Forum
Commissioner, ILO Global Commission on the Future of Work
The Arab International Women’s Forum is proud to announce that in August 2017, Haifa Al Kaylani, joined the ILO Global Commission on the Future of Work, the only Commissioner from the Arab world to contribute to this timely and valuable Centenary Initiative under the joint chairmanship of Prime Minister of Sweden, Stefan Löfven, and the President of Mauritius, Ameenah Gurib-Fakim.
The ILO launched the Global Commission on the Future of Work, a high-level international body to address the challenges of the rapidly transforming world of work, in Geneva on 21 August 2017 to undertake an in-depth examination of the future of work that can provide the analytical basis for the delivery of social justice in the 21st century. The Commission will focus in particular on the relationship between work and society, the challenge of creating decent jobs for all, the organization of work and production, and the governance of work, towards the development of a Commission Report.
In her address at the Geneva launch in August, the President of Mauritius Ameenah Gurib-Fakim strongly encouraged “all countries and stakeholders to come up with comprehensive recommendations and novel ideas on how to address the opportunities and challenges of the future of work. We can accomplish this by ‘putting people first’, by recognising that labour is more than simply a commodity in the labour market in the spirit of the ILO Constitution, or even just a factor of production.”
Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven said: “We cannot stop development, nor should we even try. What we need to do is come together: to harness innovation to improve the daily lives of millions, to use new technology to build cleaner and more sustainable societies, and at the same time create new jobs with better conditions for everyone. These objectives lie at the heart of this Commission.”
The Commission was set up under the ILO’s Future of Work Centenary Initiative launched by the ILO Director-General Guy Ryder in 2013. The Commission has 28 members (all of whom serve in their personal capacity), including the co-chairs themselves and its four ex-officio members – ILO Director-General Guy Ryder and the Officers of the ILO Governing Body. The members of the Commission will produce an independent report that will be submitted to the Centenary Conference of the ILO in 2019.
Following her appointment, Haifa attended the inaugural meeting of the ILO Global Commission on the Future of Work in Geneva on 22 October 2017, and in advance of the next ILO Global Commission meeting in Geneva in February 2018, she is focused on deepening her research on issues related to the new Knowledge Economy and its impact on the Future of Work and Jobs for Arab youth, specifically bringing into focus women’s empowerment issues in this context. Haifa’s research, together with the findings of the other Commissioners, will ultimately contribute to the Commission’s report to be submitted to the Centenary Conference of the ILO in 2019.
On her appointment as a Commissioner of the ILO Global Commission on the Future of Work, Haifa said: “It is a privilege to be invited to join the ILO Global Commission and to serve alongside such distinguished Commissioners from around the world. In my role as Founder and Chairman of AIWF and as a development economist, the key issues of job creation and creating opportunities for women and youth in the MENA economy and internationally have been at the heart of my work and commitments for two decades. Realising the vision of a future working world that empowers young people to progress and prosper is, in my view, vital to global security, a mission that I am deeply committed to, and now, as a Commissioner on the Future of Work Centenary Initiative, a mission that I am very much looking forward to developing even further.”
The Arab International Women’s Forum Board, Partners and Members extend their warmest congratulations and support to Haifa Al Kaylani as she assists the ILO in its mission to address critical challenges and potential for the future working world.
Photo used with the kind permission of the ILO, © Marcel Crozet
