At its 97th Session (2008), the International Labour Conference adopted the
ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization. The Declaration expresses the universality of the Decent Work Agenda: all Members of the Organization must pursue policies based on the strategic objectives – employment, social protection, social dialogue, and rights at work. At the same time, it stresses a holistic and integrated approach by recognizing that these objectives are “inseparable, interrelated and mutually supportive”, ensuring the role of international labour standards as a useful means of achieving all of them. In March 2009, the
Governing Body set out a seven-year cycle for recurrent discussions of the four strategic objectives of the ILO as set out in the Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization. The Governing Body decided that social dialogue would be covered once in this seven-year period. At its 310th Session (March 2011) the Governing Body adopted a proposal providing guidance for the recurrent discussion in 2013 on the strategic objective of social dialogue. It emphasized the timeliness of the discussion, given the importance that social dialogue has had in many countries in addressing the economic downturn, and will need to have in order to ensure that a job-rich recovery can take place.