The Secretary of the United States of America, Antony Blinken congratulated the former Prime Minister of Togo, Gilbert Fosoun Houngbo for his election at the head of the International Labor Organization.
“Congratulations to Gilbert F. Houngbo, the first leader from Africa to be elected Director General of the UN International Labor Organization. His role is critical to upholding the UN Charter, especially through advancing worker rights and building inclusive economic growth”, the US authority tweeted the day after the election.
Houngbo has indeed become the first African to occupy this position. The 61-year-old says he has always fought for such positions to bring about change in the world.
“I have been running this race base on my inner believes. As I always say, there have been a lot of progress in the world, particularly since the world war II. But the social justice agenda remains the challenge for us… We really need to push, press different agenda to insure that economic progress is equitably distributed among the different segments of our society “, he said after his election.
Gilbert Fosoun Houngbo will take office in October.