COMMENT On May 28, the board of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Geneva, Switzerland will decide on its new director-general.

Among the candidates is Malaysia’s Dr Jomo Kwame Sundaram, who is currently UN assistant secretary-general for economic development.

NONE The candidacy of Jomo ( right ), a Yale and Harvard-trained economist and renowned author and researcher on global economic development issues, will bring a breath of  fresh air to the ILO at a time when we are experiencing global turbulence, which has already affected the lives of  million of people around the world. The priority today is job creation and that requires strategic partnership between governments, the private sector and the labour movement.

The Guardian (UK), which endorses Jomo, said in its May 17 article, “... a new social compact is required, not just within nations but internationally. For economies across the world to be on viable and sustainable paths of growth, they must be based more on inclusion, which means greater concern for the expansion, stability and conditions of employment and respect for employment rights.

“This obviously requires new thinking. The good news is that to some extent this is already happening, in several areas of the developing world through governments and social movements, and in public responses in the developed world.”

It added that “We are in a time when some international institutions can play a more significant role in creating and forging genuinely viable alternative economic trajectories. In fact, the International Labour Organisation is uniquely positioned among the multilateral organisations to play an extremely important role in forging a global consensus around such viable alternatives.

“Its unusual tripartite structure (with representation on the board from governments, workers’ organisations and employers’ organisations) allows it to become not just a forum for discussions on such matters but a platform for proposing and promoting strategies of economic justice that are both productive and socially acceptable.”

The ILO will need a director-general who understands global financial issues and macroeconomic policies with ideas about how to deal with the concerns of both the developed and advanced nations and the ability to work with strategic partners in government and the private sector and in the labour movement.

The right man for the job

Jomo is the right man for the job. His vision, experience and commitment make him ideally suited to take the ILO forward, adapt it to the rapidly changing times and allow it to fulfil the role that is so badly needed in the world today. He happens to be an Asian but that is not a disadvantage for a job that requires a leader who is equally  familiar with emerging markets and the less developed world.

In a recent article entitled ‘Stronger Recovery, More Jobs for All’, Jomo said that “The design of policy measures has to take into account the full consequences of policy actions, including those that are unintended, but foreseeable. In addition, sovereign debt challenges have to be addressed, revenue collection systems enhanced, social protection arrangements put in place, and financial regulation overhauled, among other things.

“But the larger point is that national efforts, while crucial, need to be complemented by international action.”

The next ILO director-general must have the requisite qualities of an integrator, facilitator, and champion of constructive change in the way the world goes about its business. In this regard, Jomo has the ability to rejuvenate the ILO and transform its mission as the world struggles to create jobs and manage social cohesion.

 

DIN MERICAN is fellow of the Southeast Asia Centre for E-Media (Seacem).