President Cyril Ramaphosa arrived in Geneva, Switzerland on Tuesday morning to launch the International Labour Organization’s Global Commission on the Future of Work Report, his spokesperson Khusela Diko said in a statement.
Ramaphosa and Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven are co-chairs of the 27-member Global Commission that has been given the task to identify challenges and make recommendations that will sustain and protect the livelihood of workers from across the world.
This comes during the time when there is a fourth industrial revolution, climate change and the changing world economic cycle.
Diko said the Global Commission’s report will be launched at the ILO headquarters and will become part of this United Nations agency’s centenary year.
The ILO from the moment it was founded in 1919, has advocated for social justice and promoted decent work in all of its 187 member states.
“The president has, since his appointment in May 2018 as co-chair Global Commission, hosted the Presidential Jobs Summit and the South Africa International Investment Conference in October 2018,” said Diko.
“These forums sought, among other objectives, to strengthen inclusive planning in protecting and creating sustainable livelihoods in an era of rapid technological change and climate impact, and attract investment that will yield returns in a fast-evolving digital economy.
“More recently, government and social partners introduced a national minimum wage which sets a historic precedent in the protection of low-earning workers and provides a platform for reducing inequality in society and decreasing huge disparities in income in the national labour market.”
Diko said Ramaphosa will engage with the ILO ahead of leading Team South Africa to Annual Meetings of the World Economic Forum from Tuesday to Friday.
