ILO elects first African as 11th DG

The Governing Body of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), comprising representatives of governments, workers and employers, have elected African born Togolese, Gilbert F. Houngbo, as its 11th Director-General.

In a meeting held in Geneva, Switzerland, Houngbo, who  is currently  serving as the President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), became the first African in the history of the world labour organisation to assume the position of Director-General.

Speaking after his election, according to ILO news report made available to journalists, Houngbo said, “Although my origins are African, my perspective is global. In an age, unfortunately of dividedness, my commitment to be a unifying Director-General stands firm. I will be the Director-General of nobody and the Director-General of everybody. Governments, employers and workers alike from all regions across the world can rely and should rely on my total readiness to represent and advocate the views of all tripartite constituents of the organisation.

“I commit to represent the voices of those who rely on us in ILO. I am thinking about the four billion people around the world who do not have access to social protection. I am thinking about the 200-plus million of women and men who face unemployment.

“The 160 million children in child labour. The 1.6 billion people in the informal sector. The enterprises, particularly the small and medium-sized enterprises that are facing supply chain disruption or closure due to crises including the pandemic, climate change and armed conflict. I am thinking about the women and men who face discrimination, violence and harassment in the workplace and elsewhere. These are all expressions of unacceptable social injustice that we are morally if not legally bound to address.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Labour and Employment Minister, Senator Chris Ngige, who led African Regional Government to the election, described the victory as “unprecedented and sweet for Africa.”

In his post-election congratulatory speech on behalf of Nigeria, Ngige said the victory of the African was a sort of home coming, Houngbo having served successfully as the Deputy Director-General of the Organisation.

“I am confident he will use his wealth of experience to uplift the organisation and do  Africa and ECOWAS proud. I recall that while he visited Nigeria on February 26, 2022 to canvass for votes, I assured that Africa was in the race to win and we have won.”

According a statement signed by the acting Head of Press and Public Relations, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Patience Eke, “Ngige led the African lobby for Houngbo when no clear winner emerged in the first round of voting. With this development, Houngbo joins other Africans to occupy the Director-Generalship/Chief Executive of a United Nations’ body after World Health Organisation’s Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus of Ethiopia and Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of the World Trade Organisation.”

The new Director-General’s five-year term will begin on October 1, 2022. The current Director-General, Guy Ryder, from the United Kingdom, has held the office since 2012.

The ILO’s Governing Body is composed of 56 titular members (28 governments, 14 employers and 14 workers) and 66 deputy members (28 governments, 19 employers and 19 workers). The employer and worker members are elected in their individual capacity.

The ILO is the oldest specialised agency of the UN. It was founded in 1919 and has a mandate to promote decent work for all. It has 187 member states.

There were five candidates for the post of ILO Director-General. The other candidates were Kang Kyung-wha (Republic of Korea), formerly Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, Deputy Director-General for International Organisations for Korea and UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights and Mthunzi Mdwaba (South Africa), formerly Employers’ Vice-Chairperson of the ILO Governing Body and Vice-President to the ILO, International Organisation of Employers.

Others are Muriel Pénicaud (France), currently the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of France to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and former Minister of Labour of France and Greg Vines (Australia), currently Deputy Director-General of the ILO with responsibility for Management and Reform, and formerly Minister (Labour), Australian Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva and chair of the ILO Governing Body.