United Nations: Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has asked the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to increase its presence in her country to promote "social justice".
"I would like to make a special appeal for my own country, Burma (Myanmar)," Suu Kyi said via video message during a labour conference being held in Geneva. "We look to the ILO to expand its activities in Burma to help usher in an era of broad-based social justice in our country."
Noting that labour rights were integral to development, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate underlined the need for workers in Myanmar to be able to form trade unions.
"May I reiterate the declaration of faith of the ILO that failure in one nation raises obstacles in the way of progress in all other nations," she said.
"Burma must not be allowed to fail and the world must not be allowed to fail Burma."
She noted that previous work of the ILO in Myanmar had highlighted the indivisibility of social, political and economic concerns.
"In its attempt to eliminate forced labour and the recruitment of child soldiers, the ILO has inevitably been drawn into work related to rule of law, prisoners of conscience and freedom of association," she said.
Suu Kyi pointed out that once Myanmar was considered the nation most likely to succeed in South-East Asia. "But now it has fallen behind almost all the other nations in this region," she said.
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