How are countries implementing international labour standards? The annual report by the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR) provides a thorough and independent answer. The 2026 edition carries particular significance, as it coincides with the 100th anniversary of the Committee, which is a cornerstone of the ILO’s supervisory system on international labour standards.
GENEVA (ILO News) – For a century, the Committee of Experts has played a central role in the ILO’s supervisory system, examining how Member States implement ratified Conventions and Protocols in law and practice, and helping ensure accountability, consistency and progress in advancing social justice and decent work. In its annual report published on 13 February 2026, the Committee issued a statement reaffirming the values and principles that have guided its work for one hundred years within the ILO’s supervisory system.
The report also provides a brief account of its interactive exchange with the Chairs of the UN bodies monitoring international human rights treaties and the Chair of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights on synergies and complementarities among their respective mandates.
International labour standards are international legal instruments adopted by governments, employers and workers represented at the International Labour Conference (ILC). They can take the form of Conventions, Protocols and Recommendations and aim to advance social justice and decent work worldwide. They reflect a universally applicable threshold of common values and principles governing the world of work. Once a country has ratified an ILO Convention or Protocol, it is obliged to report regularly on the measures it has taken to implement it.
While ILO Member States can choose whether or not to ratify an ILO Convention or Protocol, the ILO supervisory system also regularly reviews the effect given to Recommendations and Conventions that have not been ratified. Each year, the Committee prepares a General Survey examining a specific theme. This year, the General Survey addresses Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience.
The Committee of Experts is an independent body composed of 20 high-level legal experts from around the world, who are charged with examining the application of ILO Conventions, Protocols and Recommendations by ILO Member States in law and practice. They serve in their personal capacity and are independent and impartial. Their diverse regional and professional profiles, ensure that the Committee benefits from first-hand experience across different legal, economic and social systems.
The report will be submitted to the 114th Session of the International Labour Conference where governments, employers and workers will discuss its findings in the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards.
Source: ILO.ORG
