World War I transformed the world's social and economic map. The ILO emerged together with the League of Nations from the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. It gave expression to the concern for social reform that grew with the industrial revolution, and the conviction that realistic reform had to be conducted on an inter-national plane.
Twenty-five years on, the ILO entered the reconstruction period following World War II with the Declaration of Philadelphia, a dynamic restatement and enlargement of its basic goals and principles.
The Declaration anticipated the postwar growth in national independence and heralded the birth of large-scale technical cooperation with the developing world, side by side with the standard-setting function begun in 1919.
In 1946 the ILO became the first specialized agency associated with the United Nations. On its 50th anniversary in 1969 it was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

The International Labour Office is headed by a Director-General appointed by the Governing Body.
Since March 1999 the ILO has been led by Juan Somavia of Chile.

The ILO: How it works

The International Labour Conference meets annually. It provides an international forum for discussion of world labour and social problems and sets minimum international labour standards and broad policies of the Organization. Every two years, the Conference adopts the ILO's biennial work programme and budget, which is financed by member States.
Each member country has the right to send four delegates to the Conference: two from the government and one each representing workers and employers, each of whom may speak and vote independently.
The ILO is unique among world organizations in that employers' and workers' representatives- the "social partners" of the economy- have an equal voice with those of governments in shaping its policies and programmes.
The ILO encourages tripartism within member States as well, by promoting a "social dialogue" which involves trade unions and employers in the formulation and, where appropriate, implementation of national policy on social and economic affairs and a host of other issues.
Between Conferences, the work of the ILO is guided by the Govern-ing Body, comprising 28 government members and 14 worker and 14 employer members.
The International Labour Office in Geneva is the Organization's secretariat, operational headquarters, research centre and publishing house.
Administration and management are decentralized in regional, area and branch offices in more than 40 countries.
The work of the Governing Body and of the Office is aided by tripartite committees covering major industries, and by committees of experts on such matters as vocational training, management development, occupational safety and health, industrial relations, workers' education and special problems of women and young workers.
Regional conferences of the ILO member States are held periodically to examine matters of special interest to the regions concerned.

The Declaration of Philadelphia

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