19th American Regional Meeting (2018)

Credentials

Accreditation

  • The delegations of member States invited by the Governing Body as full members or as observers may submit their credentials online at https://www.ilo.org/CredentialsRMMS. The access codes were provided in the second letter of invitation to the Regional Meeting and may also be requested from the Office of the Legal Adviser: International Labour Office, 1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland, Telephone: +41 22 799 6525, Email: credentials@ilo.org).
Important!
In accordance with article 1(7) of the Rules for Regional Meetings (2018), the credentials of national delegations must be deposited with the International Labour Office 21 days before the opening of the Regional Meeting (in other words, by Tuesday, 11 September 2018). Receipt of the credentials within that period facilitates the preparation of the Meeting and is particularly important in cases where obtaining a visa depends on the accreditation of the traveller as a delegate to the Meeting.

  • Credentials from invited international intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations must be sent by e-mail to the Office of the Legal Adviser (credentials@ilo.org), attaching a scanned copy of the original communication, duly signed.
  • The names and titles and official functions at the Meeting of members of national tripartite delegations of member States of the region, as well as names and titles of representatives of any member States from another region, international intergovernmental organizations and international non-governmental organizations invited to the Meeting by the Governing Body, are published in real time on the Meeting website.

Composition of national delegations (full members)

Delegates
In accordance with article 1(2) of the Rules, each member State invited by the Governing Body as a full member to the Regional Meeting is required to send a tripartite delegation composed of two Government delegates, one Employers’ delegate and one Workers’ delegate.

Advisers
Pursuant to article 1(8) of the Rules, delegates may be accompanied by advisers. Advisers may speak only on a request made by the delegate whom they accompany and may not vote. On the other hand, any delegate may by notice in writing addressed to the Chairperson appoint one of his or her advisers to act as his or her substitute. An adviser who is acting as substitute for his/her delegate may speak and vote under the same conditions as the delegate who is being replaced.

Other requirements
Article 1(5) of the Rules stipulates that Employers’ and Workers’ delegates and their respective advisers will be chosen in agreement with the industrial organizations, if such organizations exist, which are most representative of the employers or workers as the case may be in the member State concerned. Furthermore, in accordance with the resolution concerning the strengthening of tripartism in the overall activities of the International Labour Organization, adopted by the International Labour Conference at its 56th Session (1971), member States must send tripartite delegations whose members are able to act in full independence of one another.

Article 1(4) of the Rules requires that member States having accepted an invitation to participate in the Regional Meeting assume responsibility for the travel and subsistence expenses of their tripartite delegation.

Gender parity
Under article 1(6) of the Rules, member States taking part in the Meeting “shall make every effort to promote the equal representation of women and men in their delegations”.

The ILO’s strong commitment to promoting gender equality was reaffirmed by the Governing Body at its 332nd Session (March 2018) when it urged all groups to aspire to achieve gender parity among their accredited delegates, advisers and observers to the Conference and Regional Meetings.

A diagram showing the participation of women in Regional Meetings is available on the Regional Meeting website. In view of the figures reflected in the diagram, delegations are urged to spare no effort in the pursuit of parity.

Credentials Committee

The Credentials Committee is a subsidiary body of the Regional Meeting consisting of one Government delegate, one Employers’ delegate and one Workers’ delegate, all from full members (articles 8 and 9(1) of the Rules).

The mandate of the Credentials Committee is to examine the credentials of delegates and advisers of member States attending the Meeting as full members (article 9 (2) of the Rules). The Committee also examines any objection alleging that an Employers’ or Workers’ delegate or adviser has not been nominated in accordance with article 1(5) of the Rules. It may also, time permitting, consider any complaint alleging that a Member has failed to carry out its responsibility in accordance with article 1(4) of the Rules to pay travel and subsistence expenses of the tripartite delegation.

Any receivable objection or complaint is communicated by the Credentials Committee to the Government concerned requesting it to provide comments within a time limit of 24 hours.
The Committee may also receive and examine communications.

Pursuant to Article 9(4) of the Rules, the Committee submits its report to the Meeting in order for it to be brought to the attention of the Governing Body. The Committee’s report includes its conclusions regarding any objection, complaint or communication received as well as statistical data and observations regarding the composition of national delegations of member States attending the Meeting as full members (e.g. the number of incomplete and non-accredited delegations and the proportion of women in national delegations).