Happy birthday ILO!

Press release | Beijing, China | 11 April 2019
On 11 April 1919, the ILO Constitution was adopted by the Paris Peace Conference. 100 years later - to the day - the ILO marks its centenary anniversary with a day-long ‘virtual’ Global Tour, live-streaming special centenary events from 24 ILO Offices around the world in a continuous 24-hour webcast, showcasing the diversity of the ILO’s work today.

In Beijing, the day was celebrated through a high level debate on the future of work opened by MOHRSS Minister Zhang Jinan. During one hour, a live talk show was broadcasted to the globe while a high-level tripartite Forum discussing Joint Efforts for a Shared Future of Work was taking place at the same time.

A live talk show in the studio
In the studio room, Mr Hao Bin, Director General of the international affairs department of the MOHRSS, Ms Yao Li of the ACFTU and Ms Liu Hansong of the CEC reviewed the past achievements and discussed challenges and opportunities for the future. This 1 hour live streaming was a unique moment to take both a global and local audience through the different aspects of the ILO’s work in China.

Besides representatives of the Ministry and social partners, UN officials, academics, youth and women organisations also took part in the Forum and voiced their opinions on the future of work from their own perspectives.

In his opening remarks, MOHRSS Minister Zhang Jinan, congratulated the ILO for its tremendous achievements over the last century, stressing that the human-centred agenda proposed by the Global Commission should play a key role in shaping and sharing a brighter future of work. The unique added-value of ILO’s tripartite structure in promoting decent work and advancing social justice was emphasized by Li Yufu, Vice-Chairman and First Secretary of the Secretariat of ACFTU. Zhu Hongren, Executive Vice-Chairman and Director General of CEC praised the human-centred agenda for the future of work and called for deeper cooperation with the ILO. “Decent work and full employment – the core of the ILO’s work – are a specific Goal under the 2030 Development Agenda and are also crucial to the successful realisation of the SDGs,” said Nicholas Rosellini, UN Resident Coordinator in China.

During the Forum, the winners of an essay contest entitled “the Future of Work in My Heart” were rewarded. The contest, jointly organized by the ILO, the MOHRSS and the Renmin University, was opened to Chinese university students. The authors of the five best essays will be invited to take part in the ILO internship programme in Beijing and Geneva. Young people are indeed our future!

1 hour at Beijing: https://zhibo.ifeng.com/video.html?liveid=126071