Sixth Committee (Legal) — 74th session

Observer status for the International Organization of Employers in the General Assembly (Agenda item 172)

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Documentation

Summary of work

Background (source: A/74/200)

In a letter dated 16 August 2019 (A/74/291), the Permanent Representatives of France, Germany and Turkey to the United Nations requested the inclusion of this item in the provisional agenda of the seventy-fourth session.

Consideration at the seventy-fourth session

The Sixth Committee considered the item at its 19th and 35th meetings on 18 October and 20 November 2019 (see A/C.6/74/SR.19 and A/C.6/74/SR.35).

Statements were made by the representatives of Germany, Spain, Turkey, the United States of America, the Philippines, the Russian Federation and Bangladesh.

A number of delegations supported the request for the grant of observer status to the International Organization of Employers. The role of the International Organization of Employers in creating a sustainable environmental environment and promoting cooperation between the private sector and government was noted. It was recalled that in its resolution 73/342 the General Assembly encouraged a ‘dialogue and productive cooperation between different organs, funds, and programmes of the United Nations system, including representatives of employers’ and workers’ organizations’. It was also recalled that the International Organization for Employers is already strongly engaged with the work of the United Nations and would play an invaluable role in implementing the 2030 Agenda, and that the goals set out therein would be difficult to achieve without support from employers and the business sector. Furthermore, it was emphasized that the International Organization of Employers enjoys special status as part of the tripartite governing structure of the International Labour Organization.

Several delegations, while noting the important role the International Organization of Employers plays as the secretariat for employers within the International Labour Organization, expressed the view that the International Organization of Employers does not meet the criteria set out in General Assembly decision 49/426. While it was noted that the work of the International Organization of Employers is of interest to the General Assembly, it is composed of business and employers’ organizations and is therefore not an intergovernmental organization. It was emphasized that the criteria set out in this decision are interlinked and cannot be severed. It was also recalled that in its resolution 71/156 the General Assembly did not intend to change the criteria laid down in Assembly decision 49/426 of 9 December 1994, and that additional exceptions will render the decision by the General Assembly meaningless without a debate on the merit of the criteria therein.

Action taken by the Sixth Committee

At the 19th meeting, on 18 October, the representative of Germany, also on behalf of other sponsors (see A/74/441), introduced a draft resolution entitled “Observer status for the International Organization of Employers in the General Assembly” (A/C.6/74/L.3).

At the 35th meeting, on 20 November, the representative of Germany requested, on behalf of the sponsors, that the Committee defer a decision on the request for observer status for the International Organization of Employers in the General Assembly until the seventy-fifth session of the Assembly.

At the same meeting, the Committee adopted, without a vote, a draft decision under which the General Assembly would decide to defer a decision on the request for observer status for the International Organization of Employers in the General Assembly to the seventy-fifth session of the Assembly.

Subsequent action taken by the General Assembly

This agenda item will be considered at the seventy-fifth session (2020).

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