Gilbert F. Houngbo was elected as the 11th Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO) by the ILO’s Governing Body in March 2022.
He is the first person from the African region to have been elected to this post. His primary focus is promoting greater social justice, fighting inequalities and discrimination in the world of work, and achieving better working conditions through national action and building more effective multilateral coordination and leadership.
To achieve this, he is emphasizing universal social protection, decent work in global supply chains and in the platform economy, the fight against child and forced labour, protecting the rights of migrant workers, promoting social dialogue and freedom of association, ensuring just transitions, and attaining gender equality.
Additionally, Gilbert F. Houngbo chairs the Board of the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) and is a board member of the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA).