Working together:

National Human Rights Institutions and the International Labour Organisation

This Fact Sheet aims to: explain how NHRIs can relate to the ILO; explain what the ILO is to NHRIs; and help the ILO, NHRIs and other stakeholders identify synergies and opportunities for promoting business respect and support for human rights, including workers rights, in line with the ILO labour standards.

Towards a common goal – promoting decent work for all

The ILO Conventions and recommendations deal with labour issues, particularly international labour standards and decent work for all, thus setting the standards for what can be expected of business when it comes to respecting the rights of their own employees and the rights of the employees of their suppliers and business partners.

NHRIs and the ILO tripartite organisation – which includes governments and worker and employer organisations – share a common aim of improving the right to decent work for workers all over the world. In this effort both NHRIs and the ILO can assist companies in understanding the international labour standards and expectations that apply to how they treat and regulate their labour force.

The ILO is tasked with ensuring a common understanding and implementation of standards on labour rights – both through recommendations to government, and by providing assistance to companies. ICC, as the global network of over 70 A-status NHRIs offers rights-holders, the ILO and other stakeholders with a unique source of authoritative expertise and assistance on human rights (including workers’ rights) at national level.

Introducing the ILO

ILO: setting standards for responsible business conduct

The ILO plays an important role in promoting and securing business respect for human rights. The ILO is the global standard-setting body in the field of labour rights, which concern the human rights of workers (e.g. to just andfavourable working conditions, non-discrimination and to a safe and healthy working environment).

Most recent standards and initiatives relating to business respect for human rights, including the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights refer to Core Labour Standards which derive from international labour standards, developed in and agreed on by states andthe most representative national employers’ and workers’ organizations.

ILO Conventions are international treaties become binding on governments at the national level whenratified. In most national legal systems they must then be implemented through national legislation. Whilst not directly binding on enterprises, because they are international legal instruments, the principles and standards derived from ILO Conventions should serve as a guide for enterprises’ behaviour.

The ILO plays a role by helping to promote dialogue between governments and workers’ and employers’ organizations and by providing assistance and tools to better understand the labour dimension of business respect for human rights.

ILO: Promoting Global Standards Locally

The ILO field programmes are one of the main means of action to support constituents locally in promoting decent conditions of work for all. The ILO has offices in countries in: Africa, the Americas, Arab States, Asia and the Pacific and in Europe and Central Asia.

Links to the different Field Programmes can be found here:


Introducing National Human Rights Institutions

What are NHRIs?

NHRIs are independent public institutions established through national laws or Constitutions. NHRIs have a legal mandate to promote and protect human rights, including via monitoring, advice, reporting, research, outreach and human rights education. NHRIs are not NGOs (non-government organisations). They are public bodies, part of the State but independent of the national government. NHRIs are subject to periodic peer review and accreditation to evaluate their continued compliance with the Paris Principles.

While the specific mandate of NHRIs may vary, the general role of NHRIs is to address discrimination in all its forms, as well as to promote the protection of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. Including the economic, social and cultural rights, including on the rights to form and join trade unions, non- discrimination and the abolition of forced labour and child labour.

Core functions of NHRIs include complaint handling, human rights education and making recommendations on law reform.

The UN Paris Principles can be accessed here:

Working Together: Opportunity Map

Promoting Labour Standards
ILO and NHRIs share the common goal of supporting and contributing to the realization of just and favourablelabour conditions for all. ILO labour offices and NHRIs can assist each other in promoting standards on business respect for international labour rights. Some NHRIs are experts in specific labour standards topics, e.g. achieving non-discrimination in the workplace and on promoting business respect for the rights of workers to organize and bargain collectively. Maintaining regular dialogue between the ILO and NHRIs will promote sharing of information relevant to defining due diligence in given labour standards contexts. NHRIs have e.g. been very engaged in promoting ILO efforts on child labour.
Partnering on Training and Dialogue
The ILO and NHRIs can partner on organizing and developing training or multi-stakeholder dialogues around key labour standards and issues in alignment with these standards in different national contexts. Home-state NHRIs can contribute to the ILO by promoting the ILO standards nationally towards business actors and other stakeholders. / Developing tools and guidance
The ILO and NHRIs can partner on organizing and developing guidance materials and tools for companies on labour standards and issues in alignment with these standards in different national contexts.Both the ILO and the NHRIs play a vital role as a source of information for companies as well as other stakeholders on labour standards and issues concerning their interpretation and implementation.
Monitoring performance
The ILO and NHRIs are both tasked with monitoring national performance on their international obligations – including the obligations under the ILO Conventions and Recommendations. NHRIs can provide national context specific knowledge to the ILO monitoring processes and vice versa.

Partners in Promoting Human Rights
Global Case Studies