The International Labour Organisation's (ILO) centenary declaration should give a clear direction about how to address the challenges and opportunities of future work taking the changing trend of world work into consideration.
A labour ministry statement quoted State Minister for Labour and Employment Begum Monnujan Sufian as saying on Wednesday.
"The Global Commission made many useful recommendations on the future of work in this regard. We firmly believe people and the work they do must be at the centre of policies and practices," she said.
She was speaking at the ILO's 335th governing body meeting taking place at its headquarters in Geneva. ILO's centenary declaration will be made at the 108th International Labour Conference scheduled to be held in June next, the statement added.
An eight-member Bangladesh delegation is in Geneva now led by the minister that also included labour secretary Ummul Hasna and its additional secretary Syed Ahmed.
The Declaration must indicate what skills are needed for the work of the future, how to refine and develop skills required for the future, making it learning for life, she said. Priority must be given to unskilled labourers, female, youth and migrant workers, she added.
"The possible impact of modern and future technology, including automation and artificial intelligence should also be kept in mind," Ms Sufian said.
Opportunities for regular migration should be identified by assessing needs of labour market, she said.
"The declaration must touch upon how access to safe and regular migration channels for men and women migrant workers would be ensured. The adverse impacts of climate change in employment and job market must be recognised in the Declaration.," she also said.
Social protection has been one of the four pillars of ILO work and in many developing countries, social protection coverage is still lacking, she said.
Providing technical assistance would be vital for ensuring quality social protection, she said and called for including the issue in second part of the Declaration.
Improved governance, legal and technical capacities of both the Office and the constituents will still play a key role in effective service delivery of ILO.
"Supervisory mechanism must be reformed based on proper tripartism, transparency and impartiality to gain full trust and confidence of the constituents. The system must also be applied in terms of national context and priorities," she noted.
