113th International Labour Conference Opens in Geneva with Participation of Morocco
The opening plenary session was attended by Morocco's Permanent Representative to Geneva, Ambassador Omar Zniber; the Secretary General of the Ministry of Economic Inclusion, Small Business, Labour, and Skills, Wafaa Asri; and Miloudi Moukharik, Secretary General of the Moroccan Labour Union (UMT), who leads the workers' delegation.
In his opening address at the event, which runs until June 13, ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo noted that the world is going through a period of 'profound turbulence for multilateral institutions' such as the International Labour Organization.
'This context imposes on us a duty to reform: reform for effectiveness, but also for efficiency,' he said, noting that reform at the ILO translates into 'a double imperative.'
Reviewing the highlights of this 113th session, Houngbo noted the importance of the major draft resolution for the 2nd Social Summit in Doha, noting that this text embodies, among other things, a collective ambition: to expand universal access to social protection, with a clear objective—to increase social coverage by at least two percentage points per year.
The ILO chief called on the Conference to approve the 2026-27 draft budget, which will see 'zero nominal growth,' in line with the Governing Body's recommendation in March, because, as he noted, 'the time has come for austerity.'
'We must show determination and resolve to define, with surgical precision, the efficiency levers needed to reduce our expenditure and make us stronger,' he stressed.
Referring to the report he submitted to the current session of the Conference, Houngbo noted that 'employment is not a passive consequence of economic growth but must be an active component of it.'
Reviewing the other items on the agenda of the 113th session, the ILO chief highlighted the importance of the first normative discussion on decent work in the platform economy, which 'already promises to be a pioneering milestone.'
The inaugural session also featured the presentation of the report of the Chair of the Governing Body and the election of the President and Vice-Presidents of the Conference.
The ILC, the ILO's highest decision-making body, meets annually with tripartite delegations from member states, along with international observers, to address key global labour issues. It operates through plenary sessions and various commissions.
(MAP: 03 June 2025)
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