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Remarks Prepared for Delivery by
U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao
92nd Session of the International Labor Conference
Palais des Nations
Geneva, Switzerland
Wednesday, June 9, 2004
I am pleased to represent the United States at this 92 nd session of the International Labor Conference. Let me add my congratulations to the Minister of Labor of the Dominican Republic, Milton Ray Guevara, upon his election as President of the Conference. Minister Guevara and the U.S. Department of Labor have cooperated closely on many projects over the years.
I would like to note the report of the Director General on the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization. It raises many important issues about the increasing interdependence of global economies. I had a very productive discussion with the Director General about some concerns we had with some of the report's recommendations and conclusions. Nevertheless, I commend him for his commitment to improving the lives of workers around the world.
The United States' perspective on the issue of globalization has been summed up by our President, George W. Bush. In his remarks on global development on March 12, 2002, he stated that, “We cannot leave behind half of humanity as we seek a better future for ourselves. We cannot accept permanent poverty in a world of progress. There are no second-class citizens in the human race.”
The World Commission correctly concluded that efforts to achieve lasting benefits for the world's workers must begin at home, in each sovereign nation. Good national governance, democracy, respect for fundamental human rights and sound economic policies are the essential building blocks of sustainable development and brighter futures for workers and their families.
When those building blocks are in place, international cooperation can contribute to economic development and the alleviation of poverty. And here, the Director General’s “decent work” initiative has made just such a contribution.
But the creation of new international institutions, new international bureaucracies and new international instruments is not in itself a formula to achieve “decent work” and poverty reduction. Individual governments must step up to their responsibilities to address the root causes of these conditions in their own nations and within the framework of their own cultures.
I saw this for myself when I visited West Africa in December of last year to launch U.S.-backed child labor projects in the Congo, Benin and Ghana. In each of these countries, the United States and the ILO are working together with local governments to rescue, rehabilitate and reintegrate children who have been trafficked or conscripted into militias. As recent ILO analysis has shown, exploitive child labor doesn't alleviate poverty; it contributes to it.
Since 1995, the United States Department of Labor has provided more than $285 million to combat the worst forms of child labor in these and some 60 other countries around the globe. This year, we will provide an additional $120 million to provide exploited children with an opportunity to attend school and to help their families generate alternative forms of income.
During my December trip to West Africa, I also launched projects to address HIV/AIDS in the workplace, which is another tragedy devastating workers today. I am proud that the United States, under the leadership of President George W. Bush, has launched an unprecedented $15 billion effort to turn the tide against HIV/AIDS in the most afflicted nations of Africa and the Caribbean.
Consistent with the ideas expressed in the report of the World Commission, the United States is also promoting adherence to international labor standards through bilateral free trade agreements. In the past two years, we have negotiated free trade agreements with more than 10 countries. Negotiations are underway or about to begin with another 9. In these agreements, we affirm with our trading partners our shared commitment to establishing and enforcing core labor standards. And we are implementing these agreements with technical assistance that helps our partners build the capacity of their labor ministries to develop effective laws and to enforce them.
In the area of capacity building, I also commend the work that the ILO has been doing in providing technical assistance to workers and employer organizations and to the Ministry of Labor in the West Bank and Gaza. We encourage the ILO to continue and expand these efforts.
Through projects such as these, the United States is helping governments meet their responsibilities to adhere to core labor standards and build brighter futures for workers and their families. I look forward to continuing to work with Director General Somavia and the ILO to help the most vulnerable and to strengthen our cooperative efforts to achieve economic opportunity and prosperity around the globe.
Thank you.
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