ILO appoints Ramaphosa as work commission co-chair

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) – the UN’s labour agency – has appointed President Cyril Ramaphosa to co-chair its Global Commission on the Future of Work, says a Business Day report. Ramaphosa will join Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, who has chaired the committee since its inception. The high-level commission was established in 2017 to undertake critical research into how countries could best respond to changes experienced in the world of work as a result of the fourth industrial revolution, as well as the changing nature of work. Development economist and visiting University of Cape Town Professor Carlos Lopes is part of the commission’s 28-member committee, which includes experts from across the globe. The Presidency said that Ramaphosa ‘expressed appreciation at the unanimous confidence shown by the ILO’s governing body and shared his high regard of the important work of this commission’. It added that the work of the committee was aligned to Pretoria’s focus on the creation of decent and sustainable jobs, including efforts to empower young people with skills for transforming workplaces. Ramaphosa will attend his first meeting at the commission when its members meet next Tuesday in Geneva.