HOW TO WORK WITH THE ILO • • • • • • • • • • tives are in harmony with the aims, principles and spirit of the ILO; It should have an evident interest in at least one of the ILO’s fields of activity; It should be an international organization with representatives or affiliates in different countries; It must enclose with the application: annual reports, a copy of its statutes, membership composition, names and addresses of its officers, and any other relevant information. Once the application is received, the Governing Body examines the application and decides whether the NGO should be placed on the Special List. Applications to attend a specific meeting must be received at least one month before the Governing Body session preceding the meeting. Official status i.e. accreditation with the UN Economic and Social Council or another UN specialized agency is relevant, but not essential. NGOs on the Special List can ask for invitations to participate in ILO meetings which are of relevance to their aims and objectives. The ILO provides information on such meetings. They can also ask to be invited to the International Labour Conference. Special List NGOs participate as observers with no voting rights. Indigenous NGOs on the Special List are the Four Directions Council, Indigenous World Association, Saami Council and the World Council of Indigenous Peoples (WCIP). International NGOs on the Special List include: Amnesty International, Anti-Slavery International, International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, International Commission for Jurists, International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA), Survival International and the World Council of Churches. Note: National NGOs can work with the ILO by affiliating with an international NGO. They can also contact the local ILO office, indicating their area of interest, and ask to be informed of any meetings or events which may be relevant to their work. They can also have an important role in investigating and documenting cases of ILO Conventions via publications and consultation workshops. For more details contact: ILO Bureau for External Relations and Partnerships ILO Geneva 22 CH 1211, Switzerland tel: +41 22 799 7867 fax: +41 22 799 7146 e-mail: exrel@ilo.org 1.3 Directly NGOs can participate via: • Meetings and seminars – Minority and indigenous organizations and concerned NGOs can participate in ILO meetings and events which are relevant to them, e.g. training on standards. These are ad hoc events and are generally at the invitation of the organizing office or programme of the ILO. • Information – Information received from minority and indigenous organizations and other concerned NGOs will be passed to the relevant body if it contains hard data, i.e. verifiable information or wellknown facts. This information can include public documents such as agreements, case decisions, laws, regulations, reports, etc. For example, reports from Amnesty International, Anti-Slavery International, Human Rights Watch, IWGIA, and MRG have all been used for reference by the supervisory bodies. • Reporting process – In a unique example, the Norwegian Sami Parliament sends its comments to the ILO on the application of Convention No. 169 in Norway. This is the result of an agreement between the Norwegian Government and the Sami Parliament whereby the Parliament’s report forms part of the official Government report to the Committee of Experts. The Committee is encouraging other governments to follow this example of cooperation. • Technical programmes – Various ILO projects and programmes are designed for, and implemented in cooperation with, vulnerable groups. The International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) has given NGOs an important role in the implementation of its programmes. This recent innovation in ILO practice is in recognition of the complexity of these issues, and the need to reach communities at the local level through associations and organizations which are not linked to the labour movement. This can also be partly attributed to the fact that in some situations there can be a conflict of interest with employers’ and/or workers’ groups. For example, workers’ and employers’ organizations may not THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION: A HANDBOOK FOR MINORITIES AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES 41