6 | International Union Rights | 25/4 FOCUS | INDIGENOUS PEOPLES & UNIONS The ILO’s Quest for Social Justice: C169 and Peace Building The centenary of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) is an opportunity to reflect on how, by upholding indigenous peoples’ rights, this organisation has made a historic and unique contribution to universal peace. The Treaty of Versailles proclaimed that lasting peace cannot be attained without social justice – the raison d´être of the ILO. At the same time, social justice can be imperilled by intolerance, racial discrimination as well as by the resentment that results from decades of marginalisation of one specific part of the population, namely indigenous and tribal peoples. The ILO’s founders believed it necessary to guarantee decent living and working conditions to all workers, including ‘natives’, whose exploitation was a matter of concern for the international community of the early twentieth century. The League of Nations Union acknowledged that the continuance of forced labour was bound to create discontent and was inimical to progress. As early as 1925, a Norwegian delegate to the Assembly of the League of Nations drew attention to the potential role of the International Labour Office ‘in bringing about better conditions for native labour’. Thus, the ILO became the first international organisation to adopt international standards to protect indigenous workers against the abuse of compulsory labour and conditions analogous to slavery. Between 1936 and 1955, the International Labour Conference adopted five conventions and two recommendations on the matter. In a number of regional conferences held in the American continent between 1939 and 1946, trade unions further drew the ILO’s attention to the social inequality faced by indigenous communities in rural areas. This marked a turning point in the way the ILO approached indigenous peoples, by starting to address issues – such as land tenure, education, and use of customary laws – beyond the traditional labour field of ILO action. As illustrated in a study on the working and living conditions of indigenous populations in Peru – published by the ILO in 1938 – this new perspective was influenced by the need to engage indigenous communities in plans for national economic development and to avoid social conflicts deriving from the existence of indigenous forms of governance operating at the margin of the government’s authority. By the end of the 1950s some ILO members supported the preparation of an international convention, based on the principles of international solidarity and social justice, to help protect indigenous populations from abuse and segregation. The Indigenous and Tribal Populations Convention (No. 107), was adopted in 1957. It was later revised, due to criticism raised by indigenous organisations who saw in it a tool for governments to promote cultural assimilation. A 1987 report prepared by the International Labour Office on the revision of C107 suggests that a new instrument was needed to decrease the imbalance of power of indigenous groups vis a vis the rest of the society, thereby helping to prevent ethnic conflicts, violence, forced integration and even actions amounting to genocide. The product of this revision – the 1989 Convention on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (No. 169) – is the only international treaty open for ratification exclusively and specifically addressing indigenous and tribal peoples’ rights. Though C169 does not explicitly refer to peace building or conflict resolution, its principles, if properly implemented, have great potential for promoting dialogue, understanding and cooperation. Its preamble specifically highlights the contributions of indigenous and tribal peoples for cultural diversity and social harmony. The Convention emphasises the recognition of indigenous and tribal peoples’ own aspirations, institutions and initiative for development, along with its focus on institutionalised consultation and participation. Moreover, by placing respect for human rights and equality and the need for addressing socio-economic disadvantages facing indigenous and tribal peoples at the centre, the Convention has an important role to play in tackling the root causes of indigenous and tribal peoples’ historic exclusion and marginalisation. More recently, the need to take special account of indigenous peoples in times of conflicts was emphasised in the ILO’s 2017 Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience Recommendation (No. 205), which calls upon governments to ensure that indigenous peoples are consulted if territories inhabited or used by...