THE ILO’S TRIPARTITE STRUCTURE

1 7 4 I N D I G E N O U S T R I B A L P E O P L E S ’ R I G H T S I N P R A C T I C E – A G U I D E T O I L O C O N V E N T I O N N O . 1 6 9 The International Labour Conference The Conference provides a forum for debate and discussion on important social and labour issues. It adopts standards, and is the principal policy-making body of the Organization. Each of the ILO’s 183 member States is represented by four delegates to the annual ILO Conference. Two are from the government, and one each from the national workers’ and employers’ organizations. During the discussions concerning the adoption of Convention No. 169, a number of indigenous representatives participated as members of delegations of workers, employers and governments. The Governing Body The ILO programme and budget are set by the Governing Body, and approved by the Conference. It also sets the Conference agenda. The Governing Body elects the Director-General of the ILO, its chief executive oficial, for a period of ive years, and supervises the day-to-day operations of the ILO Ofice. The Governing Body is composed of 56 members: 28 government members, 14 employer members and 14 worker members. The tripartite constituents of the ILO also have privileged access when it comes to accessing the ILO supervisory procedures related to ratiied conventions. However, indigenous peoples have found practical ways to engage with the ILO supervisory bodies, often through collaboration with workers organizations see sections 14.5 and 14.6. Due to the characteristics of the ILO, its main government partner in member states is the Ministry of Labour or its equivalent, however named. However, as the responsibility for indigenous peoples’ rights often is the responsibility of a government body other than the Ministry of Labour, the ILO can work directly with whatever institution the government has designated for this theme. Also, the ILO technical cooperation activities see section 14.11 can directly address and include indigenous peoples

14.3 RATIfICATION

The Programme of Action of the Second Decade of the World’s Indigenous People adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2005 states that consideration should be given by States that have not yet done so to ratiication of Convention No. 169 and the strengthening of mechanisms to monitor the implementation of the Convention. 1 Ratiication is the voluntary act by which a State establishes at the international level its consent to be bound by a convention. Since 1989, 20 countries have ratiied Convention No. 169 as provided in the table below: COUNTRy RATIfICATION DATE Argentina 3.7.2000 Bolivia 11.12.1991 Brazil 25.7.2002 Chile 15.9.2008 Colombia 7.8.1991 Costa Rica 2.4.1993 Denmark 22.2.1996 Dominica 25.6.2002 Ecuador 15.5.1998 Fiji 3.3.1998 Guatemala 5.6.1996 Honduras 28.3.1995 Mexico 5.9.1990 Nepal 14.9.2007 Netherlands 2.2.1998 Norway 19.6.1990 Paraguay 10.8.1993 Peru 2.2.1994 Spain 15.2.2007 Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela 22.5.2002 In most cases, ratiication of Convention No. 169 follows a process of dialogue between the government, indigenous peoples, members of parliament and often broader sectors of civil society, which will often include elements of awareness- raising, capacity-building, research, legal reviews 1 UN doc. A60270, 5 August 2005, paragraph 56. 1 7 5 x I V. C O N V E N T I O N N O . 1 6 9 : R AT I f I C AT I O N , I m P L E m E N TAT I O N , S U P E R V I S I O N A N D T E C H N I C A L A S S I S TA N C E and exchange of experiences. In many cases, the ILO, through its International Labour Standards Specialists and technical cooperation programmes, provides assistance and technical input to such activities see section 14.11. ILO Conventions, unlike other international treaties, cannot be ratiied with reservations. Some Conventions allow ratifying States to limit or modify the obligations of a Convention e.g. by way of a declaration explicitly permitted or required under the Convention, but this is not the case with Convention No. 169. Therefore, it is important that governments, indigenous peoples, traditional ILO constituents workers and employers as well as other stakeholders are fully informed about all the provisions of the Convention as well as the implications of ratiication. Moreover, this is important for generating ownership of the post- ratiication implementation process; and by involving these principal actors, their participation in the implementation of the Convention is usually better guaranteed.