A Century of Change
World War I transformed the world’s social and
economic map. From the peace process emerged the ILO, created together
with the League of Nations by 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 international plane.
The ILO is unique among world organisations 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.
Twenty-five years on, it equipped itself for 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
the ILO began 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 ILO marks its 75th anniversary in 1994 in a world again undergoing
profound change. In adapting to new conditions, new demands, new
hopes, it holds firm to the convictions that brought it into being
and to its mandate to enact, through democratic tripartite partnership,
its enduring principles of humanity and justice.
Universality is vital for the achievement of these purposes. The
original membership of 45 nations has grown to 177. Alphabetical list of ILO member countries
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