The International Labour Conference, attended every year by members of the International Labour Organization (ILO), has a special purpose this year as the ILO celebrates its centenary. Because of its longevity and structure, the ILO holds a unique position in the world of international organisations.

In his address to the high-level segment of this year’s conference, the prime minister stressed that Slovenia is honoured to have been involved in the ILO from the very beginning. “We are among those countries with a large number of ratified conventions, including all the fundamental and high-priority conventions. More importantly, we make every effort to ensure that they are implemented effectively in practice. In this ILO centenary year, I would like to reiterate the Slovenian government’s sincere and strong commitment to the principles, values and mission of the ILO.”

He went on to remind the audience that digital transformation, robotics, artificial intelligence and automation were bringing numerous opportunities to the world of work, as well as challenges – challenges for which we had to be prepared – and that we had to be proactive at the national, regional and international levels. Moreover, we had to make use of the advances brought by technology in order to adapt and upgrade jobs for people’s benefit. “In this way we can enable people to extend their active participation in the labour market.”

He emphasised that Slovenia had already proved its commitment to the principles and objectives of the “Future of Work” initiative. “I should point out that the Slovenian government has traditionally treated social partners as equal and valued stakeholders with the closest links to current economic and social conditions. Therefore, they have been and will remain key co-creators of all necessary reforms.”

He concluded his address with the observation that Slovenia was prepared to continue to actively and sincerely support the efforts of the ILO to improve the legal, social and economic position of workers in all parts of the world. “For us, the ILO is a key international forum for addressing and resolving the new global issues in the world of work. The future of work is not set and, fully aware of this, our main guiding principle must come from a basic understanding that technology is a human product and not the other way round.”

On the sidelines of the meeting, the prime minister met ILO director-general Guy Ryder, and reiterated Slovenia’s strong commitment to ongoing active and sincere support for the ILO’s efforts to improve the legal, social and economic position of workers in all parts of the world.

During his visit to Geneva, Mr Šarec also met Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Their discussion centred on human rights around the world and the role of the Human Rights Council, which Slovenia chaired last year.

In the morning session of the programme, the PM visited the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), where he met CERN director-general Fabiola Gianotti and some of the Slovenian scientists who work at the institution. A Slovenian Industry day will be held at CERN in October with the aim of deepening cooperation between CERN and Slovenian industry.