Declaration of Philadelphia

The Declaration of Philadelphia (10 May 1944) restated the traditional objectives of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and then branched out in two new directions: the centrality of human rights to social policy, and the need for international economic planning. With the end of the world war in sight, it sought to adapt the guiding principles of the ILO "to the new realities and to the new aspirations aroused by the hopes for a better world." It was adopted at the 26th Conference of the ILO in Philadelphia, United States of America. In 1946, when the ILO's constitution was being revised by the General Conference convened in Montreal, the Declaration of Philadelphia was annexed to the constitution and forms an integral part of it by Article 1.