The 2nd Session of the Islamic Conference of Labour Ministers (ICLM) was held in Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan during the period 23-26 April 2013 under the theme “Decent Work for sustainable Social Welfare”. The Senior Officials Meeting, which preceded the Ministerial Conference, was held on 23-24 April with the participation of Senior Officials from the Ministries of labour of 36 member countries. The Meeting was also attended by representatives of the OIC General Secretariat and the relevant OIC and regional and international institutions.

The participants discussed and deliberated on four various issues related to labour markets and employability in the OIC countries. These issues constituted the main agenda items of the Conference as follows: (1) Occupational Safety and Health; (2) Reducing Unemployment and Role of Capacity Building; (3) Foreign Migrant Labour and Social Protection; and (4) Labour Market Information Strategy. The representative of SESRIC, Mr. Nabil Dabour, Director of Research Department, made a comprehensive presentation under the topic “Occupational Safety and Health in OIC Countries”.

The participants also discussed and deliberated on the “Draft OIC Framework for Cooperation on Labour, Employment and Social Protection” and its implementation mechanism. At the end of the Meeting, the participants prepared and examined the Draft Resolutions and the Draft Baku Declaration as well as the Agenda and Programme of the Ministerial Session for submission to consideration by the Ministers.

The Ministerial Sessions held on 25-26 April. The Conference was attended by Ministers in charge of labour and employment, Heads of delegations from 37 member countries, representatives of the OIC General Secretariat, OIC institutions, regional and international Organizations. The Conference was chaired by H.E. Mr. Fizulli Alakbarov, Minister of Labour and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

During the General Debate, the Ministers and Heads of delegations addressed the Conference on their national programmes, underscoring areas of potential collaboration. They also consider and adopted the “Draft OIC Framework for Cooperation on Labour, Employment and Social Protection” and its implementation mechanism, which was examined by the Senior Officials. The Framework includes, inter alia, the following objectives: to streamline a concrete common objective in the area of cooperation among member states in the field of capacity building, employment, foreign migrant labour, labour market information strategy and social protection; and to adjust, whenever required, the common policies and programmes related to social protection and development.

The Conference designated the following OIC member states as members of the Steering Committee for the implementation of the Framework: Republic of Azerbaijan (Chairman), Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Guinea, Cameroon, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia. The Conference mandated the Steering Committee to work out plans and programmes including time-lines and benchmarks, with a view of ensuring effective and speedy implementation of the programmes identified in the adopted OIC Framework. The Steering Committee was also mandated to include performance mechanism and evaluation on the implementation of the Framework every two years and submit its reports to the Islamic Conference of Labour ministers through the OIC General Secretariat.

The Conference further adopted the Baku Declaration and Resolution on the Cooperation on Labour, Employment and Social Protection among the OIC Member States. The Conference also welcomed the offer made by the Republic of Indonesia to host the 3rd Session of the ICLM in 2015.

The final Official Documents of the Conference are available at: http://www.oic-oci.org/