 As efforts to end child labour slow down, ILO calls for "re-energized" global action
The global campaign to end child labour is at a critical juncture. As the new Global Report under the follow-up to the ILO Declaration on fundamental Principles and Rights at Work shows, child labour continues to decline worldwide but at a much slower pace than before. The report, entitled "Accelerating action against Child Labour", says there are clear signs of progress but also disconcerting gaps in the global response. |
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 Promoting Decent Work for People with Disabilities: A Path to Decent Work and Inclusive Societies
Since 2002, in more than seven countries in East and Southern Africa, Asia and the Pacific the ILO has partnered with Irish Aid to provide a path to decent work and more inclusive societies for people with disabilities.
The ILO-Irish Aid Partnership Programme supports the development and reform of disability-related laws and policies and their effective implementation, and the inclusion of women and men with disabilities in mainstream programmes and services on vocational training, employment, entrepreneurship development and micro-finance.
The following pictures illustrate how removing the barriers to services and opportunities help disabled people obtain decent work and a better life.
For more information about the ILO-Irish Aid Partnership Programme, visit:
http://www.ilo.org/inclusion |
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 Health and life at work: A basic human right
The ILO estimates that each year about 2.3 million men and women die from work-related accidents and diseases including close to 360,000 fatal accidents and an estimated 1.95 million fatal work-related diseases. The protection of the worker against sickness, disease and injury arising out of his employment - is not only a labour right but a fundamental human right and is one of the main objectives of the ILO as stated in its Constitution. Therefore, the ILO contribution to the recognition of human rights in the world of work is clearly reflected in the fundamental principles of its labour standards. |
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 Getting ships in shape - As shipping increases, so does the need for more port State control
In response to an oil spill that fouled the west coast of France in 1978, European ministers took decisive action to establish a regional system for inspections of foreign ships in 1982. Yet the growing numbers of ship detentions in many ports worldwide show the continuous need for a global system of regular port inspections. From 22-26 September, more than 300 government, ship owner and seafarer representatives met at the ILO to adopt new guidelines on port state control under the Maritime Labour Convention of 2006. In this special report, ILO Online shows how inspections work and why they are needed. |
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 Remove the obstacles ! On the right track to equality
Since 1919, the ILO has sought to guarantee labour rights and improve working conditions for women and men. 50 years ago, in 1958, the International Labour Organization adopted the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention (C.111), still the most comprehensive and dedicated international instrument on non-discrimination and gender equality in the world of work.
> Gender equality at the heart of decent work: Campaign 2008-2009 |
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 Pinocchio Canvas: Education through artistic expression
Child labour is a global problem. The latest ILO figures estimate that 168 million children around the world are engaged in child labour, 85 million of them in hazardous work. They are deprived of their basic human rights and robbed of their childhood.
This Pinocchio canvas, created by committed young people, transports us to the heart of a globalized world where the character of Pinocchio is both the victim of abuse and also the unaware consumer that contributes to the perpetration of the vicious cycle of poverty and child labour. Inspired by the Pinocchio fairytale, students from Italy have expressed the complex reality of child labour to promote awareness in a meaningful way for children. The sequence of slides shows the canvas in its developing stages.
This canvas can be explored and used to inspire learning and further action among other children worldwide. A complimentary descriptive leaflet and a classroom activity have also been developed for teachers and educators to use to explore this important issue in greater detail. |
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 Youth employment: Breaking gender barriers for young women and men
One billion young people will reach working age within the next decade. Providing them with the opportunity to secure productive employment and decent work is a societal, national and global challenge. It is no wonder that youth employment is listed high on the international community's agenda. This is the best educated and best trained generation of young men and especially young women ever. Youth employment: Breaking gender barriers for young women and men is the third theme of the gender equality at the heart of decent work campaign. |
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 "Confronting Climate Change": How cooperatives contribute to meeting today's challenges
Ranging from small-scale to multi-million dollar businesses, cooperatives employ today some 100 million women and men in both industrialized and developing countries, and have more than 800 million individual members across the globe. 'Concern for community' is one of the Cooperative Principles which guides the work of cooperatives around the world. Celebrated annually on the first Saturday of July, the 14th UN International Day of Cooperatives focuses this year on the significant contribution that cooperatives can make to mitigating climate change. In the context of climate change and food price rises, cooperatives do play a role in rural areas around the world. The following pictures highlight not only how cooperatives reduce carbon emissions, but also promote sustainable development in general. |
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 Formula for progress: Educate both girls and boys!
The first theme of the Gender Equality at the Heart of Decent Work Campaign focuses on providing decent childhoods for girls and boys. Education for all is the key to development, but there are many barriers, including poverty, children having to work, limited access to education, gender preference to give an education to a son instead of a daughter when having to make a choice, and girls having to take on many household chores with little time left to study. But empirical evidence has shown that educating girls is one of the most effective ways to fight poverty and to break through the vicious circle of women's poverty, illiteracy and poor working conditions. Gender equality at the heart of decent work, Campaign 2008-2009 |
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 My life, my work, my safe work - Managing Risk in the Work Environment
Every year more than 2 million people die from occupational accidents or work-related diseases. "Injury and disease are not 'all in a day's work'", says ILO Director-General Juan Somavia. "Fatalities, accidents and illness at work can be prevented. We must promote a new 'safety culture' in the workplace - wherever work is done - backed by appropriate national policies and programmes to make workplaces safer and healthier for us all." The promotion of occupational safety and health is one of the means to make Decent Work a global reality. |
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 International Women's Day, ILO Geneva, 7 March 2008
The Global Employment Trends for Women 2008 report of the ILO shows that in 2007, 1.2 billion women around the world worked, almost 200 million or 18.4 per cent more than ten years ago. But the report also highlights that the share of vulnerable employment, although decreasing from 56.1 to 51.7 between 1997 and 2007, continues to be higher for women than for men, especially in the world's poorest regions. The ILO celebrated International Women's Day to highlight the theme that Investing in Decent Work for women is not just right, but smart! |
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 Investing in Decent Work for women: Not just right, but smart!
Promoting equality is not only a matter of human rights, but it also makes good economic sense. Empowering women goes beyond the intrinsic value for women themselves,and has profound impacts on families,communities,national economies.The ILO supports several micro-finance programmes for gender equality and the empowerment of women. |
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Exhibition commemorating the 90th Anniversary of the ILO at UN in New York
The International Labour Organization (ILO) works actively with the United Nations and other organizations to develop policies and programmes that support decent work opportunities, contribute to the eradication of poverty and the pursuit of social justice. This exhibition celebrates the world of work and helps mark the 90th anniversary of the ILO by showing how people all around the world aspire to a better life for themselves and their families through the world of work. > More on the ILO 90th anniversary on http://www.ilo.org/90 |
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 Eight Millennium Development Goals to achieve by 2015
In September 2000, world leaders endorsed the Millennium Declaration, a commitment to work together to build a safer, more prosperous and equitable world. The Declaration was translated into a roadmap setting out eight time-bound and measurable goals to be reached by 2015, known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): They include goals and targets on income poverty, hunger, maternal and child mortality, disease, inadequate shelter, gender inequality, environmental degradation and the Global Partnership for Development. The goal of Decent Work for All and the pledges in the Millennium Declaration go hand in hand. The ILO's Decent Work Agenda, in a context of fair globalization, is essential to the achievement of these shared aims.
> Read more on ILO and the Millennium Development Goals |
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 Children in hazardous work: what we know, what we need to do
The international community and ILO Member States have set the goal of eliminating the worst forms of child labour by 2016. Since the overwhelming majority of the worst forms of child labour involve hazardous work, tackling hazardous child labour can bring us closer to achieving our goal. The 2011 World Day Against Child Labour will provide a global spotlight on hazardous child labour, and call for urgent action to tackle the problem. |
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GREENING THE ILO
In June 2012, during the Rio+20 Conference, the ILO launched an exhibition at its headquarters entitled "Greening the ILO." The purpose of the exhibition and this presentation is to showcase some of the ILO's major efforts in greening its activities and buildings - through photos and words.
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 The International Labour Conference: A commemoration of a century of landmark achievements in the area of labour and decent work
The ILO has played a role at key historical junctures- the Great Depression, decolonization, the creation of Solidarnosc in Poland, the victory over apartheid in South Africa and today in the building of an ethical and productive framework for a fair globalization. International labour standards and the broad policies of the International Labour Organization are set by the International Labour Conference (ILC). 2011 marked the 100th anniversary of the International Labour Conference (ILC). Here are some of the most historic achievements of the ILC. |
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 Water for Cities: Responding to the Urban Challenge
Despite the UN General Assembly declaring that access to safe water is a human right, thousands die each day because of water-related diseases, and many countries are not expected to meet the UN Millennium Development Goals on water. World Water Day is held annually on 22 March to highlight the importance of freshwater and importance of sustainable management of freshwater resources. This year, UN-Water chose the theme Water and Urbanization under the slogan Water for Cities: Responding to the Urban Challenge. The objective of World Water Day 2011 is to focus international attention on the impact of rapid urban population growth, industrialization and uncertainties caused by climate change, conflicts and natural disasters on urban water systems. |
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