The International Labour Organization (ILO) has adopted a global treaty against violence and harassment in the workplace. It was described as historic by the Swiss ambassador to the ILO Jean-Jacques Elmiger, who chaired the centenary conference in Geneva. The treaty was adopted on Friday after a vote by tripartite delegates from the 187 member states following two intense weeks of discussions in Geneva at the 100-year-old UN organisation. Representatives of states, employer groups and workers hugged each other ahead of the vote, as a sign of their commitment to the new instrument. The convention, which will be binding only to those states that ratify it, has taken over two years to finalise and negotiate. It applies to violence and harassment in relation to the world of work, including in public and private spaces where they serve as a workplace, but also during journeys between home and the workplace. It covers public- and private-sector employment, as well as formal and ...
