ILO Director General, Guy Ryder, to speak at International Council of Nurses’ Congress 2021

Mr Guy Ryder, Director General of the International Labour Organization, will be a keynote speaker on the final day of the International Council of Nurses (ICN) virtual Congress to be held 2-4 November 2021.

Guy Ryder was elected as ILO Director General in October 2012 and re-elected in 2016. He first joined the ILO in 1998 as Director of the Bureau for Workers’ Activities and, from 1999, as Director of the Officer of the Director-General. It was during this time that the ILO’s Decent Work Agenda was launched and won support from the international community. In 2002, he was appointed General Secretary of the ICFTU, leading the process of global unification of the democratic international trade union movement. He was elected as first General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation in 2006. He headed international trade union delegations to high level talks with the UN, IMF, World Bank and WTO and to the G20 Leaders’ Summit. In September 2010, Guy Ryder returned to the ILO as Executive Director, responsible for international labour standards and fundamental principles and rights at work. Among other activities, he supervised the application of ILO Conventions and Recommendations. In 2012 he took office as ILO Director General, pledging to position the organisation as a determined actor translating principle into action and ensuring that it had the capacity to make a major different in the working lives of people on all continents. To support this, he launched a major reform process geared to assuming the ILO’s authority on matters falling within its mandate.

Mr Ryder joins other confirmed keynote speakers, including Mr Ban Ki-moon, former United Nations General Secretary; Her Royal Highness Princess Muna al-Hussein; former Prime Minister of New Zealand Helen Clark; United States Congresswoman Lauren Underwood; and Mrs Peggy Vidot, Minister of Health of the Seychelles.

In partnership with the Emirates Nursing Association, the ICN 2021 Congress will bring together thousands of nurses from across the globe in a virtual event and will build on the vital contribution of nurses in the battle for health and well-being across the entire world. Using the theme ‘Nursing Around the World’, ICN will pass the nursing baton across the different regions in a series of live and interactive events that will give its members the opportunity to showcase their expertise and innovations throughout the world.

Standard registration rates to Congress 2021 are open until 30 September. Participants will receive full access to all official congress sessions: full access to e-posters, partner and industry symposia; full access to online chat and other virtual networking areas; automatic allocation of continuing education credits (ICNECs) and full access to sessions after the event for a period of six months. To register, go to: https://icncongress2021.org/registration/

Further information and regular updates on the Congress 2021 programme are available on the congress website: www.icncongress2021.org

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