TO RATIFY OR NOT TO RATIFY

I am ashamed to admit that I have paid little or no attention to certain United Nations organisations, which ought to have been higher on my agenda. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is a specialised agency of the UN that deals with labour issues pertaining to international labour standards. Its headquarters are in Geneva. It was first established in 1919 after the First World War, and its new constitution came into effect after World War II on the 1^st November 1945. Its membership includes states that were members on that date. The ILO organises the International Labour Conference in Geneva every year in June, where conventions and recommendations are drafted and adopted. Each member state is represented at the conference by four people; two government delegates, an employer delegate and a worker delegate. All of them have individual voting rights, and all votes are equal regardless or the population of the delegate’s member state. The employer and worker delegate are normally chosen in agreement with “the most representative” national organisations of employers and workers.

It so happens that on the 27^th June 1989, at the 76^th session of the Conference adopted C169 Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 – The preamble to the convention reads: (I draw your attention in particular to the section in italics)

Having been convened at Geneva by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, and having met in its 76th Session on 7 June 1989, and

Noting the international standards contained in the Indigenous and Tribal Populations Convention and Recommendation, 1957, and

Recalling the terms of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the many international instruments on the prevention of discrimination, and

Considering that the developments which have taken place in international law since 1957, as well as developments in the situation of indigenous and tribal peoples in all regions of the world, have made it appropriate to adopt new international standards on the subject with a view to removing the assimilationist orientation of the earlier standards, and

Recognising the aspirations of these peoples to exercise control over their own institutions, ways of life and economic development and to maintain and develop their identities, languages and religions, within the framework of the States in which they live, and

Noting that in many parts of the world these peoples are unable to enjoy their fundamental human rights to the same degree as the rest of the population of the States within which they live, and that their laws, values, customs and perspectives have often been eroded, and

Calling attention to the distinctive contributions of indigenous and tribal peoples to the cultural diversity and social and ecological harmony of humankind and to international co-operation and understanding, and

Noting that the following provisions have been framed with the co-operation of the United Nations, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation and the World Health Organisation, as well as of the Inter-American Indian Institute, at appropriate levels and in their respective fields, and that it is proposed to continue this co-operation in promoting and securing the application of these provisions, and

Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with regard to the partial revision of the Indigenous and Tribal Populations Convention, 1957 (No. 107), which is the fourth item on the agenda of the session, and

Having determined that these proposals shall take the form of an international Convention revising the Indigenous and Tribal Populations Convention, 1957;

adopts this twenty-seventh day of June of the year one thousand nine hundred and eighty-nine the following Convention, which may be cited as the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989;

The current Director General of the ILO is Juan Somavia, a very kindly looking gentleman, along the lines of Edmund Gwenn in Miracle on 34^th Street.

Juan Somavia

Edmund Gwenn

You can find the whole of the document C169, at:

http://www.ilo.org/ilolex/english/convdisp1.htm

What is surprising, to me, in fact extraordinary, is that 22 years after the ILO adopted this convention, it has yet to be ratified by the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, France, Italy, Austria etc.. Indeed the only countries to have ratified ILO-Convention 169 are:

Argentina
- Bolivia
- Brazil
- Central African Republic
- Chile
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Denmark
- Dominica
- Ecuador
- Fiji
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- México
- Nepal
- Netherlands
- Nicaragua
- Norway
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Spain
- Venezuela.
I cannot understand why it is taking so long to adopt this convention round the world.

The Current Delegates for the United Kingdom are:

Government Delegates:

Stephen Richards, Head ILO, CoE and UN(Employment) Team, Department for Work and Pensions

Nathaniel Wapshere, Second Secretary, Permanent Mission, Geneva

Advisers and substitute delegates:

Peter Gooderham. Ambassador, Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission, Geneva

Jonathan Joo-Thomson, First Secretary, Permanent Mission Geneva

Annette, Warrick, Head ILO, CoE and UN (Employment) Team, Department of Work and Pensions.

Francis Roodt, Policy Adviser, ILO, CoE and UN(Employment) Team, Department for Work and Pensions

Advisers

Paul Russell, Senior Policy Adviser, ILO, CoE and UN(Employment) Team, Department for Work and Pensions

Selby Weeks, Permanent Mission, Geneva

Gerald Weldon, Senior Policy Adviser, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Liz Tillett, Head, International Unit, Department for Work and Pensions

Employers’ Delegate

Christopher Syder, Representative, Confederation of British Industry

Adviser and substitute delegate

Anita Mishra, Appointed representative, Confederation of British Industry.

Advisers

Maxine Cahal, Policy Adviser, CBI Employment Policy Directorate

Jim Bligh, Senior Policy Adviser, Employment CBI

Neil Carberry, Appointed Representative, CNI

Workers’ Delegate

Sam Gurney, International Policy Officer, Trades Union Congress (TUC)

Advisers

Amanda Brown, Head of Legal Department National Union of Teachers

Marissa Begonia, Justice for Domestic Workers, Unite the Union

Richard Exell, Senior Policy Officer, TUC

Other Persons attending the Conference:

Diana Holland, Assistant General Secretary, Unite the Uniopn

Christine Blower, General Secretary, National Union of Teachers

Fe Jusay, Respect Network

Pat Brown, European Union and International Relations Department, TUC

Owen Tudor, Head European Union and International Relations Department, TUC

Ben Moxham, Policy Officer, European Union and International Relations Department, TUC

Bandula Kothalawala, Officer, European Union and International Relations Department, TUC

Jennifer, Moss, Officer, Kalayaan

Abdullah Muhsin Pullum, International Representative, GFTW

Sean Bamgord, Policy Officer, TUC

If anyone knows any of these 30 people, perhaps they could exert a bit of pressure to find out what is taking so long to ratify Convention C169.