On 22 January 2019, AIWF Chairman Haifa Al Kaylani joined the Commissioners and senior leadership of the International Labour Organization in Geneva for the official launch of the ILO Report on the Future of Work marking the Centenary of the ILO in 2019.
Mrs Al Kaylani was exceptionally proud to have been invited by Guy Ryder, ILO Director-General, to join the ILO Commission in August 2017 as the only Commissioner from the Arab world, and it has been her honour to have served on this important Commission under the leadership and chairmanship of Stefan Löfven, Prime Minister of Sweden, and Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa. It was a great privilege to be a part of the independent 27-member Commission which includes leading global figures from business, trade unions, think tanks, government and non-governmental organizations. It was established by the International Labour Organization in 2017 as part of the ILO’s Future of Work Centenary Initiative.
The formation of the ILO Global Commission on the Future of Work marked the second stage in the ILO Future of Work Initiative, established 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. Over eighteen months, and as a result of the constructive deliberations of the Commissioners in Geneva, the Commission has now successfully delivered the impactful and independent ILO Report on the Future of Work which examines how to achieve a better future of work for all at a time of unprecedented change and exceptional challenges in the world of work.
Among the key issues considered by the Commission are new forms of work, the institutional ramifications of the changing nature of work, lifelong learning, greater inclusivity and gender equality, the measurement of work and human well-being, and the role of universal social protection in a stable and just future of work. A Universal Labour Guarantee, social protection from birth to old age and an entitlement to lifelong learning are among ten recommendations made in this landmark report, which calls for a “human-centred agenda for a decent future of work” and makes specific provision for implementing a transformative and measurable agenda for gender equality:
“The world of work begins at home. From parental leave to investment in public care services, policies need to foster the sharing of unpaid care work in the home to create genuine equality of opportunity in the workplace. Strengthening women’s voices and leadership, eliminating violence and harassment at work and implementing pay transparency policies are preconditions for gender equality. Specific measures are also needed to address gender equality in the technology-enabled jobs of tomorrow.”
Further to its official launch in Geneva on 22 January 2019, the Report will later be submitted to the Centenary session of the International Labour Conference in June 2019. On its launch, the Report was widely shared with AIWF’s valued friends and Global and Institutional partners in 22 countries. The ILO Report on the Future of Work is now available for download on the ILO website, together with a video from the ILO announcing the key messages of the report and a report summary.
