ILO 45 years in the Pacific 1974-2019

To celebrate the ILO Centenary in 2019, the ILO Office for Pacific Island Countries looks back and reflects on the ILO presence in the Pacific and its work with tripartite and other social partners. The publication “ILO - 45 years in the Pacific” is a selective and reflective documentation of the ILO’s work in the region, to illustrate the diversity, the ‘journey’, and some of the activities and achievements of ILO technical assistance in the Pacific over 45 years. From the early ILO programmes on introducing manpower surveys and establishing vocational training, introducing workers’ education programmes, institutionalising trades training and testing and certification schemes, legislative drafting and reviews, improving access for women in vocational trades and developing local enterprises, pension schemes and co-operatives, to the later and more complex technical assistance programmes on social protection, labour migration, just and sustainable transition to climate change, and child labour, the ILO in the Pacific Islands has journeyed far and wide

The ILO programmes were, and still are, designed and executed to respond to the demands of Governments, Workers’ and Employers’ organisations, supporting their priorities. ILO achievements in the Pacific are also the achievements of its’ constituents - the Governments, Workers’ and Employers’ organisations - who have been the main implementing partners of all technical assistance programmes.