With a vote of 439 to four, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) last week Thursday adopted a new International Labour Standard on HIV and AIDS The governments, employers and workers at the 99th session of the International Labour Conference currently going on in Geneva, Switzerland, adopted the new international labour standard on HIV and AIDS - the first international human rights instrument to focus specifically on the issue in the world of work.

Following two years of intense and constructive debate, the new standard was adopted by a vote of 439 to 4, with 11 abstentions by delegates to the International Labour Conference.

The standard is the first internationally sanctioned legal instrument aimed at strengthening the contribution of the world of work to universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support and contains provisions on potentially life-saving prevention programmes and anti-discrimination measures at national and workplace levels.

It also emphasizes the importance of employment and income-generating activities for workers and people living with HIV, particularly in terms of continuing treatment.

The conference also adopted a resolution on its promotion and implementation that invites the ILO Governing Body to allocate greater resources to give effect to the new standard, requesting that a Global Action Plan be established to achieve its widespread implementation and regular reporting from ILO member States.

The Director of the ILO Programme on HIV and AIDS and the World of Work, Dr. Sophia Kisting, said: “With this new human rights instrument we can harness the strength of the world of work and optimise workplace interventions to significantly improve access to prevention, treatment, care and support. We cannot do it alone but this standard will, I believe, provide a major contribution to making the dream of an AIDS-free generation a reality.”

Ms Thembi Nene-Shezi (South Africa), who chaired the debates on the standard in the HIV and AIDS Committee, said: “We have an instrument that should be a source of pride for the ILO and its constituents.

“We have no time to waste however. We must move forward and promote the standard. The engagement of those that have given birth to it – the governments, employers and workers – will be crucial to the development of national workplace policies anchored in human rights and directed at overcoming discrimination.”

The employer Vice Chair of the HIV and AIDS Committee, Mr Patrick Obath (Kenya) said: “The standard brings everybody onto the same page and ups the ante in the fight against HIV and AIDS. The important thing now is to implement national workplace policies that support what some employers are already doing and that the whole national response is taken up a level.”

The worker Vice Chair of the HIV and AIDS Committee, Mr. Jan Sithole (Swaziland) said: “We are proud to have in hand an unprecedented international instrument to deal with HIV and AIDS through the workplace. As long as we do not have a cure we have no choice but to use the content of this instrument at every level of society.”

The new standard is in the form of a recommendation, one of two types of labour standards the ILO can adopt.While distinct from a Convention in that it does not require ratification, under Article 19 of the ILO Constitution, a recommendation must still be communicated to national parliaments and discussed in terms of how it might be implemented through national policies and legislation.

The Recommendation augments the existing ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work adopted in 2001.