Dear colleagues and friends,

• The government I represent is only a month and a half old. We are young, but we are strong.
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• As a matter of fact, the new Norwegian government, formed by a coalition of the Labour Party, the Socialist Left Party and the Centre Party, is the first in more than twenty years with a majority behind it in the parliament.
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• We won this strong mandate by a campaign that put justice and fair distribution at the heart of our policy.
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• This message is central to our political platform, as it concerns both domestic and foreign affairs. As a matter of fact, in our foreign policy we explicitly identify global justice and a more social and sustainable globalisation as being among our main goals and priorities. As Kofi Annan has said: “The main losers in today’s very unequal world are not those who are too much exposed to globalisation. They are those who have been left out.”
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• It is therefore with particular pleasure that I accepted the kind invitation from (Minister) Carin Jämtin to take part in this important conference.
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• The challenges identified in paragraph 47 of the UN Summit Declaration, which deals with fair globalisation and labour markets, are key to my government’s foreign policy objectives.
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• While the primary responsibility for labour market policies rests with national governments, we have come to recognise that in this age of globalization, decisions taken domestically in one country have ramifications for other countries, both regionally and globally.
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• Therefore, the way labour markets are run in one country is no longer a purely domestic issue.
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• To ensure a better balance of economic and social objectives, not least Decent Work for All, there is a need for improved and more coherent governance, including at the global level.
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• In my government’s view, perhaps the most serious shortcoming of the current system of global economic governance is its failure to fully respect, ratify, implement and enforce the ILO’s core labour standards.
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• And I would go even further with a view to provoking a real debate. The most important explanation for non-ratification, non-implementation and non-enforcement of these standards is the lack of political will among leaders to put the interest of workers first.
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• We must ensure that decision-makers in government and in business protect and promote the fundamental rights of all people, with a particular focus on the rights of women.
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• For as a famous Chinese proverb goes; “Women carry half the sky”.

Colleagues and friends,

• Our most important challenge at this conference is to identify how we can ensure full ratification, implementation and enforcement of the ILO’s core labour standards.

• I hope we are up to this challenge, and look forward to a truly open and interactive debate.

Thank you.