Promoting decent work for all
		Name: Werner Blenk Position: Director ILO for Pacific Islands
The International Labour Organization (ILO) of the United Nations is the UN specialized agency that seeks to promote social justice and internationally recognized human and labour rights. The ILO was founded in 1919 and is the only surviving major creation of the Treaty of Versailles which brought the League of Nations into being. The ILO became the first specialized agency of the UN in 1946.
The ILO has four strategic objectives:
To promote and realise standards, and fundamental principles and rights at work; To create greater opportunities for women and men to secure decent employment; To enhance the coverage and effectiveness of social protection for all; and To strengthen tirpartism and social dialogue
The ILO formulates international labour standards in the form of Conventions and Recommendations setting minimum standards of basic labour rights : freedom of association, the right to organize, collective bargaining, abolition of forced labour, equality of opportunity and treatment, and other standards regulating conditions across the entire spectrum of work related issues.
Here in the Pacific, the primary objective of the ILO Office is to assist Governments', Employers' and Workers' Organisations of the Pacific Island Countries in their efforts to reduce Decent Work deficits. Seven Pacific Island Countries are member states of ILO : Fiji (joined in 1974), Papua New Guinea (joined in 1976), Solomon Islands (joined in 1984), Kiribati (joined in 2000), Vanuatu (joined in 2004), Samoa (joined in 2005) and most recently the Republic of Marshall Islands (joined in July 2005). The ILO Pacific Office is based in Suva, Fiji.