International Institute of Labour Studies

The ILO’s International Institute for Labour Studies in Geneva promotes policy research and public discussion on emerging issues of concern to the ILO and its constituents - labour, business and government.

The organizing theme of its programmes is the relationship between labour institutions, economic growth and social equity. The institute's current work programme focuses on the changing relationships between labour and society, and between business and society, in order to identify ways in which trade unions and employers' organizations, as the largest organized actors in civil society, can contribute to sustainable markets, human development and social cohesion. An initial examination of the changing role of government is also being undertaken to identify areas for future research.

The institute provides three major facilities:

• a global forum on social policy enabling trade unions, employers' organisations and labour administrations to interact informally with the academic community, other opinion-makers, and ILO staff;

• international research networks linking academics with business, labour and government practitioners, to explore emerging policy issues of potential relevance for the ILO and contribute to policy formulation;
• educational programmes to assist government, business and labour in developing their respective institutional capacities for research, analysis and policy formulation in the labour field.

Its means of action include: research; social policy forums; public lectures; courses and seminars; internsship programmes; a Visiting Scholar Programme; and publications. It also organizes the biennial Social Policy Lectures, endowed by the ILO's Noberl Peace Prize, and held, by rotation, in major universities of the world.