The Global Commission on the Future of Work, on which AIWF Chairman Haifa Al Kaylani is proud to serve as a Commissioner following her appointment in August 2017, has begun shaping the framework and recommendations for its final report, following discussions at its third meeting in Geneva on 15-17 May. During the discussions, members looked at various themes that are likely to inform the report, which will be published in 2019 – the ILO’s Centenary year – including new forms of work; the impact on work of the shifts in global demographics; digitalization and its implications; lifelong learning; inclusivity and gender equality; the measurement of work and human well-being; and attaining sustainable development.
Within those themes, the 28-member Commission touched on numerous issues including youth employment, skills, income inequality, informality, the rural economy, the digital divide and gender equality. They also discussed the institutional ramifications of the future of work. Mrs Al Kaylani’s research presented at the meeting specifically focussed on women and youth in rural economies and informal sectors.
Over the weeks prior to the third meeting, five Global Commission policy dialogues took place involving experts, organizations and other agencies which looked at many of these issues in significant depth. At the end of the Commission discussions, the Commissioners agreed the next steps ahead of their final meeting 15–17 November, which will discuss the final draft of the report. After its publication in early 2019, ILO constituents – government, employer and worker representatives – will have an opportunity to consider the findings, prior to the Centenary International Labour Conference (ILC) in June next year.
The Global Commission was set up in 2017 to assess the transformative changes taking place in the world of work and to make recommendations on the way forward. It marks the second stage of the ILO’s Future of Work Initiative, launched by ILO Director-General Guy Ryder in 2013, following the first phase during which ILO member States convened national and sub-regional dialogues to provide their perspectives on the future world of work.
The ILO also recently announced the appointment of the President of the Republic of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa as co-chair of the 28-member Commission, together with the Prime Minister of Sweden, Stefan Löfven. As co-chair of the Global Commission on the Future of Work, he will work with Prime Minister Löfven to oversee the preparation of the report on the future of work to be published in early 2019. The final meeting of the Commission is scheduled to take place on the 15-17 November 2018 in Geneva.
