The Philadelphia Declaration of the aims and purposes of the International Labour Organisation recognises the fact that poverty constitutes a danger to prosperity everywhere and the war against want requires to be carried out with unrelenting vigour within each nation and by continuous and concerted international effort. The ILO emphasizes the significance of fundamental values like freedom of expression, equality and dignity. The ILO has so far adopted 177 Conventions and 184 Recommendations. Once a Member State ratifies a Convention, it has an obligation to give effect to the provisions of the Convention. However, there is no obligation on a Member State to ratify a Convention.
Ratification is voluntary.
Recommendations Recommendations are non-binding guidelines which may orient national policy and practice. They supplement provisions contained in conventions or spell them out in greater detail. Like the Conference, the Governing Body is tripartite in its structure. Africa has 6 Government seats in the Governing Body. Mauritius has for the first time in June 1996 been elected as a member of Governing Body for period 1996 - 1999.