ILO Conference Adopts New Labour Standard On HIV/AIDS

Governments, employers and workers at the recent annual conference of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) have adopted a new international labour standard on HIV and AIDS, the first international human rights instrument to focus specifically on the issue in the world of work.

The Conference also adopted a resolution on its promotion and implementation that invite the ILO Governing Body to allocate greater resources to effect the new standard, requesting that a Global Action Plan be established to achieve its widespread implementation and regular reporting from ILO member States.

The ILO in a statement declared that the new standard was adopted by a vote of 439 to four, with 11 abstentions by delegates to the International Labour Conference, following two years of intense and constructive debate.

"The standard is the first internationally sanctioned legal instrument aimed at strengthening the contribution of the world of work to universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support and contains provisions on potentially life-saving prevention programmes and anti-discrimination measures at national and workplace levels," it said.

According to the international labour centre, the news standard emphasises the importance of employment and income-generating activities for workers and people living with HIV, particularly in terms of continuing treatment.

"The new standard is in the form of a recommendation, one of two types of labour standards the ILO can adopt. While distinct from a convention in that it does not require ratification, under Article 19 of the ILO Constitution, a recommendation must still be communicated to national parliaments and discussed in terms of how it might be implemented through national policies and legislation. The Recommendation augments the existing ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work adopted in 2001," it added.

Meanwhile, Dr. Sophia Kisting, Director of the ILO Programme on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work, said: "With this new human rights instrument we can harness the strength of the world of work and optimise workplace interventions to significantly improve access to prevention, treatment, care and support. We cannot do it alone but this standard will, I believe, provide a major contribution to making the dream of an AIDS-free generation a reality."

Also, Ms Thembi Nene-Shezi, a South African, who chaired the debates on the standard in the HIV/AIDS Committee, said "we have an instrument that should be a source of pride for the ILO and its constituents. We have no time to waste however.

We must move forward and promote the standard. The engagement of those that have given birth to it - the governments, employers and workers - will be crucial to the development of national workplace policies anchored in human rights and directed at overcoming discrimination."

The employer Vice Chair of the HIV/AIDS Committee, Patrick Obath from Kenya said: "the standard brings everybody onto the same page and ups the ante in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The important thing now is to implement national workplace policies that support what some employers are already doing and that the whole national response is taken up a level."