Feature articles
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2012
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Youth speak out on employment crisis
21 May 2012
This 2012 International Labour Conference (ILC) will focus much of its attention on the issue of youth employment. While for years young people world-wide have had difficulty finding decent work, with the global economic downturn their struggles have become more acute and what was a challenge has been transformed into a crisis. By Matthieu Cognac, Youth Employment Specialist, ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.
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Domestic workers – ‘family’ or employees?
27 April 2012
Almost a year ago, in June 2011, a milestone event took place that promised to improve the lives of millions of working people – mostly women - worldwide, including more than a quarter of a million in Hong Kong and potentially as many as 20 million in mainland China. By Amelita King-Dejardin Conditions of Work and Employment Branch, ILO
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Eight blocks for building better working lives
27 April 2012
May 1st is Labour Day, an opportunity to reflect on the near-universal experience of work, its quality and quantity. One ILO initiative is seeking to achieve 100 per cent ratification of the eight ILO Conventions covering fundamental labour standards by 2015. Tim De Meyer, the ILO Senior Specialist on International Labour Standards and Labour Laws explains why these instruments are important and how they are linked to relieving poverty and improving lives.
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Giving an ancient craft a new shine: Training youth in the brassware sector in India
27 March 2012
Low levels of education, lack of skills, diplomas or certificates within a technical field severely limit the chances of gainful employment for a vast number of youth in India. A new programme of skills developing and training, however, is providing an alternative. Neelam Agnihotri, ILO communication officer in New Delhi, reports how this initiative is providing new jobs for youth in the centuries-old traditional brassware industry in Moradabad, northern India.
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Social Protection for Thailand’s Informal Economy Workers
27 March 2012
People working in the informal economy are often vulnerable and frequently lack social protection. But now the ILO and other United Nations agencies are working with the Thai Government to change this and create a suitable, social protection system.
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Campaign for domestic workers’ rights gathers pace
29 February 2012
The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day, 8 March, is “Empower Rural Women, End Poverty and Hunger”. One path that many rural women take to escape poverty is to become a domestic worker in a big city household or overseas. Yet when they do, many find themselves exploited, with little or no legal protection to guarantee basic rights to pay, rest and freedom from abuse. However following the adoption of the ILO Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189), the campaign to ensure domestic workers’ rights are respected is gaining momentum. By Lotte Kejser, Chief Technical Advisor, ILO Country Office for Indonesia and Timor Leste
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Buried in bricks: Bonded labour in Afghanistan
06 February 2012
Bonded labour of adults and children in brick kilns is one of the most prevalent, yet least known forms of hazardous labour in Afghanistan. A new ILO study on the phenomenon marks the first attempt to provide a better understanding of the dynamics of bonded labour in two provinces of the country. ILO Online spoke with Samuel Hall consulting, lead author of the study.
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After the storm: Rebuilding livelihoods in the Philippines
02 February 2012
Natural disasters destroy livelihoods but the aftermath also offers opportunities to create jobs and revitalise the economy as there will be high demand for construction and other recovery works. For the last ten years, the ILO has engaged in post-disaster reconstruction in countries in Asia and the Pacific, including China, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and beyond. So the Organization was also prepared to help when tropical storm Washi heavily affected villages and major cities in the Philippines last December. Minette Rimando from the ILO office in Manila reports.
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Land rights mean social justice for Cambodia's indigenous peoples
27 January 2012
February 20 is World Day for Social Justice, focusing attention on the necessity for economic growth to promote equity and social justice, and that “a society for all” must be based on social justice and respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms. In Cambodia new legislation is helping some indigenous peoples achieve some of these rights and build a more secure future. By Maeve Galvin, Communication and Advocacy Officer, ILO Cambodia.
2011
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Freeing Cambodia's children from work by 2016-A real possibility?
02 December 2011
Story of Nit's family, her family lives in a shaky thatch hut a short walk from the magnificent Ta Prohm ruins in the Angkor World Heritage Site. Her grandfather abandoned his family 15 years ago, and with no farm land, everyone has done their bit to stay together. Like her mother, aunt and grandmother, Nit now sells bracelets, postcards and magnets to tourists
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The dreamweaver of Lake Sebu
02 December 2011
Story of Subi Nalon, the seventy-five-year-old inherited the skill from her mother and has been weaving t'nalak since he was 15.
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Cambodia's young people look for a brighter future
02 December 2011
Story of Yeth Chenda, 21-year-old Yeth CHenda recently found a job as a receptionist in a rural hotel in Kampot, Southern Cambodia, with the assistance of an International Labour Organization (ILO) job centre project
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Mrs Thanh gets a passport; Skills training holds rural families, communities together
02 December 2011
Story of Tran Thi Thanh, a 43-year-old grandmother in My Loc, who acquired her first-ever passport and will use it to find work in Taiwan as a domestic workers
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Vietnamese apparel factories producing a good bargain for all. An Australian Government - ILO Partnership Agreement Success Story
02 December 2011
Story of Dang Thu Hoan, a Vietnamese worker who helps produce around US$13 billion in textile export revenues for Viet Nam.
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Towards a greener and fairer society
01 November 2011
Climate change means that resource scarcity and environmental degradation have become major, and urgent, challenges. In response, the ILO is promoting the concept of green jobs as a driving force towards a greener and fairer development path that can support economic and social development at a sustainable level. By Vincent Jagault, Senior Specialist in Environment and Decent Work, ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
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The role of employment in crisis recovery
29 September 2011
Emergency relief aid is the priority in the immediate aftermath of a catastrophe, but recovering jobs and livelihoods are an important part of reconstruction. Through labour-intensive infrastructure rehabilitation projects and other kinds of job creation, the ILO helps disaster victims rebuild their lives. By Shukuko Koyama, Crisis Specialist, ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
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Public-private partnerships in Asia Pacific – the best of two systems
26 August 2011
Public-private partnerships are gaining increasing traction in international development cooperation and are being used more and more by the International Labour Organization (ILO). By Wolfgang Schiefer, Chief, Regional Partnerships, Resource Mobilization and UN Reform, ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
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Wage policy in Thailand
24 August 2011
Opinion editorial by Jiyuan Wang, Director, ILO Country Office for Thailand, Cambodia and Lao People's Democratic Republic International Labour Organization.
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Young Timorese beautician is a cut above the rest
29 July 2011
Eugenia de Jesus Cardoso now runs a successful beauty salon in her hometown, in Maliana, her hometown in Timore-Leste. She gained the business and specialist skills she needed during a training programme run by the Timore-Leste Government and the ILO’s Youth Employment Promotion (YEP) programme. By Matt Crook for the ILO Liaison Office for Timor-Leste
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Philippines’ fight against hazardous child labour goes on-line
12 June 2011
(Manila, Philippines) Rodel Morcozo, a former child labour, now works for Senator Loren Legarda and is a strong advocate against child labour. To fight against child labour, the Philippines launched an internet site-- Child Labor Knowledge Sharing System. By Minette Rimando, Information Officer, ILO Country Office for the Philippines