The training session is divided into four parts: Part 1 aims to present a) the International Labour Organization, highlighting its tripartite structure; b) the standard-setting activity of the Organization and the procedure through which international labour standards are selected, elaborated, discussed and adopted, and c) the monitoring machinery based on the reports submitted by ILO constituents and the more contentious procedures which require the intervention of a competent body in order for that machinery to be implemented. This will be followed by the presentation of the rights and principles attaching to freedom of association involving an in-depth analysis of the relevant conventions, in particular Conventions 87 and 98. Special sessions will be devoted to collective bargaining and the right to strike as well as to the procedure specific to the Committee on Freedom of Association, which will be examined in detail.

Part 2 aims to place regional integration in the broader context of globalization. The connection between globalization and the ILO will first be examined, for example, and this will be followed by an analysis of the connection between globalization and freedom of association, which will also include worker and employer viewpoints. A specific session will be devoted in this context to collective bargaining at the supranational level, and in particular to international framework agreements.

In Part 3, experts will present experience of freedom of association in various contexts, namely in Europe , French-speaking Africa , South America (MERCOSUR) and Asia . Particular attention will be devoted to the efforts made by the European Union to obtain universal ratification of the relevant ILO conventions through its Generalized System of Preferences as well as to the efforts made in Africa to harmonize legislation.

And finally, Part 4 will require very active participation on the part of course participants, since they will be asked to discuss and draw conclusions on the possible development of the ILO with regard to freedom of association in the regional integration context.