TO MEMBER STATES OF THE EASTERN EUROPEAN GROUP

Dear Colleagues,

Please find below the message sent to the Chairperson of the Government Group.

Best regards,

Official Relations and Correspondence Unit (RELOFF)

Dear Chairperson of the Government Group,

Further to my message below, we understand that various groups may wish to organise sessions with the candidates ahead of the private hearings to be held during the next Governing Body session.

Given the very tight financial constraints that the Office is facing and the need to ensure adequate support to your groups in preparation for the next Session of the Governing Body, the Office would like to count on your cooperation in order to streamline the scheduling of any additional group sessions with the candidates. This should allow the Office, to the extent possible, to minimize interpretation costs and contain logistical expenditure surrounding these sessions.

As you are aware, the Office currently has very limited resources to support such activities. We are therefore relying on your flexibility and continued understanding as we navigate these limitations.

The Office has also received a number of queries regarding the constituents who will be allowed into the Governing Body room during the public interactive event, scheduled for 23 September. Although this event is taking place in the Governing Body room, the Office will need to limit attendance and movement in the room in order for the worldwide live broadcast to take place in the best conditions possible. It has therefore been decided that, from the Government benches, only the following representatives will be authorised to enter the room:

1. Constituents designated by the group to ask questions to candidates, plus one accompanying person;
2. Two representatives from the countries holding the Regional Coordination (8 people in total);
3. Two representatives from the countries having put forward the nomination of each candidate.

Kindly note that the names of these Government representatives will be cross-checked at the room entrance.

Furthermore, the candidates and two accompanying persons will be shown to the room at the time of their respective interviews, while all other persons attending will need to be seated in the room by 12.45 pm at the latest, as the doors will be closed at 12.55 pm.

No further Government representatives will be allowed into the room during the public interactive event so to limit noise and movement during the live recording and broadcast of the event. We thank you for your understanding.

For ease of reference, the timing foreseen for each interview will be as follows:

o 13.00-14.20: DG candidate 1

o 10 minute break

o 14.30-15.50: DG candidate 2

o 10 minute break

o 16.00-17.20: DG candidate 3

The order in which the candidates will be interviewed, as well as the order in which the three groups shall be given the floor to ask their questions, will be web posted at the latest on the morning of 23 September, following the random draw which will take place at the end of the afternoon on 22 September.

Best regards,

Luca BORMIOLI

Director,

Official Relations, Meetings and Language Services Department

(RELMEETINGS)

T: +41 22 799 7794

M: +41 79 773 31 10

E: [email protected]

Route des Morillons 4

CH-1211 Geneva 22

Switzerland

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Dear Chairperson of the Government group,

Dear Regional Coordinators,

On behalf of the Chairperson of the Governing Body, I am writing to seek your assistance in the preparations for the public interactive event with the candidates to the post of Director-General of the ILO. In particular, I would like to request your help in identifying the representatives within the Government group who will be called upon to ask questions to each candidate to the post of Director-General of the ILO during the public interactive event, scheduled to take place on 23 September 2026, from 1.00 to 5.30 pm.

In this respect, you may recall that in accordance with the arrangements approved by the Governing Body at its 356th Session (March–April 2026), the interactive event will be held virtually to ensure equal participation opportunities for all constituents. However, unlike at the last such event (held in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic), the representatives of the three groups designated to ask questions will (exclusively) have the possibility to be present in the room with the candidates. Each candidate will be asked 16 questions, four from each of the Employers’ and Workers’ groups, and eight from the Government group (comprising two from each of the four ILO geographical regions, namely Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific – including the Arab States – and Europe). Each constituent group, including each of the four regional groups within the Government group, may decide in full independence how they will organize and distribute the questions within their respective constituencies. All groups have the option of formulating different questions for each of the candidates and need not use the same set of questions for all the candidates. Moreover, questions coming from each group can be asked by various members of that group.

The Chairperson of the Governing Body has convened the candidates to a meeting on the afternoon of 22 September to answer any questions they may have about this event. At this meeting, the Chairperson will also draw lots to determine which candidate will be interviewed first, as well as the order in which the floor will be given to each constituent group for each interview. In this regard, it is proposed to have each of the three constituent groups present their questions, by group, one after the other. Following the draw, the Office will publish the list with the order in which the tripartite constituents will be invited to ask questions. Constituents in that list will have a seat reserved in the room on the day of the event, so that they may address their questions to the candidates in person. Should they be unable attend in person, invitations to the Zoom platform may be provided to them upon request.  All other attendees will be able to follow the dialogues through a weblink via ILO Live.

In light of the above, it is important that group consultations start as soon as possible, with a view to providing the Secretariat of the Chairperson ([email protected]), by EOB on Monday, 21 September 2026 at the latest, with the names and e-mail address of all representatives who will or could be called upon to take an active part in the public interactive event. Where applicable, the lists could include the order in which the two representatives within each region should be invited to ask their questions.

The Chairperson would very much appreciate it if, in the consultations with your groups, you could insist on the importance of preparing questions in formal and respectful language. Since only the names of those asking questions will be known in advance (not the questions themselves), it is also of the utmost importance that all representatives who will participate in the event prepare several questions to ensure the seamless organization of the interviews, bearing in mind that similar questions could be asked to the same candidate by another constituent.

As Clerk of the Governing Body, I remain available to clarify any query you may have with regard to the organization of the public interactive event, and I thank you in advance for your support.

Best regards,

Luca BORMIOLI

Director,

Official Relations, Meetings and Language Services Department

(RELMEETINGS)

T: +41 22 799 7794

M: +41 79 773 31 10

E: [email protected]

Route des Morillons 4

CH-1211 Geneva 22

Switzerland

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