His wide experience in all areas of public life – as a diplomat and academic – and his involvement in social development, business and civil organizations have all helped shape his vision of the need to secure decent work for women and men throughout the world.

The following is a list of the positions he held in the United Nations and other inter-governmental organizations before joining the ILO: Somavía began his career as an academic.

During the late 1960s, while working in General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), he promoted the participation of developing countries in the Kennedy Round.

From 1970 to 1973, Mr. Somavía served as Member and chairman of the Board of the Andean Development Corporation in Caracas and worked intensively in favour of regional integration.

He was also a member of the Board and Vice President for Latin America of the Third World News Agency, Inter Press Service (1976–89) based in Rome.

Together with Gabriel García Márquez, Nobel Prize winner, Mr. Somavia represented Latin America as a Member of the MacBride Commission on International Communications (1980–82).

Born on 21 April 1941, Somavía's early schooling took place in Chile, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United States and Ecuador.