For immediate release
6 October 2003
ILO Welcomes Timor-Leste and, Vanuatu Into the Fold
Sub-Regional Tripartite Forum on Decent Work opens in Auckland
NEW ZEALAND (ILO News) – The International Labour Organization (ILO) today formally welcomed new member States
Timor-Leste and Vanuatu into the fold during an opening ceremony for the first South-East Asia and Pacific Sub-Regional
Tripartite Forum on Decent Work in Auckland.
The Regional Director for ILO’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Yasuyuki Nodera, said during an opening speech
that the memberships of Timor-Leste and Vanuatu demonstrated growing strength in the Sub-Region in the efforts to
achieve the goal of Decent Work.
“The ILO will provide all possible avenues to enable these countries to fully benefit from the services offered by
membership,” Nodera said. Vanuatu became the 176th member of the ILO effective 22 May 2003, while Timor Leste became the
177th and latest member effective 19 August 2003.
Prior to formally gaining membership of the ILO, Vanuatu and Timor Leste had been receiving technical support and
training from the Organization in areas such as labour market information systems, entrepreneurship, vocational skills
development and labour administration. In Timor-Leste, the ILO provided support in the development of the country’s
labour code and the establishment of an effective labour relations system.
The ILO will continue its support in strengthening the capacity of government, employers’ and workers’ organizations in
Timor-Leste and Vanuatu, as well as other countries in South-East Asia and the Pacific, to effectively address
challenges in attaining the goal of Decent Work.
Representatives of government, employers’ and workers’ organizations from Australia, Fiji, Indonesia, Kiribati, New
Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste and Vanuatu are attending the ILO’s first
ever South-East Asia and the Pacific Sub-Regional Tripartite Forum on Decent Work at the Waipuna Hotel and Conference
Centre, Auckland this week (6-8 October).
The forum fulfills one of the recommendations of the Thirteenth ILO Asian Regional Meeting (ARM) in Bangkok in 2001,
which urged countries in the Sub-Region to define, through a tripartite process, National Plans of Action for Decent
Work. Outputs of the forum will be used as inputs for the next ARM in 2005.
The gathering will allow participants to share best practices and lessons learned, while identifying common issues and
solutions for the development and implementation of National Plans of Action for Decent Work.
ENDS