Feature articles

May 2008 

• Promoting better work in global supply chains: Cambodian garment workers show talent
  02 May 2008 - Better Factories Cambodia, a joint initiative of the ILO and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, is often cited as an example of how closer links between the two organizations can improve labour practices and competitiveness in global supply chains. ...

April 2008 

• World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2008 - “Superman has fallen”: Managing risk in the work environment
  24 April 2008 - Each year, an estimated 2.2 million people die from work-related accidents and diseases around the world, according to the ILO which says that work related deaths appear to be on the rise. But risks can be eliminated or minimized at source, says a new ILO report published for World Day for Safety and Health at Work on 28 April. ...
• The ILO/USDOL International HIV/AIDS Workplace Education Programme - Stories from the field
  15 April 2008 - Approximately 650 workplaces in 24 countries stretching from Benin to China are now involved with in the workplace education programme known as SHARE (Strategic HIV/AIDS Responses in Enterprises). Overall, an estimated million workers benefit from the ILO interventions financed by the United States Department of Labor. These are some lessons learned from SHARE countries
• Saving lives, protecting jobs: new horizons in the fight against HIV/AIDS at work
  14 April 2008 - HIV is having a devastating effect on the world of work. The majority of the 33.2 million people worldwide living with HIV/AIDS are working and have skills and experience their families, workplace and countries can ill afford to lose. As the UN’s lead agency in HIV/AIDS workplace interventions, the ILO is launching a new report highlighting strategic responses to HIV/AIDS in enterprises worldwide. ...
  • ILO sees a significant improvement in Workplace attitudes to HIV/AIDS
  • SHARE Report: Saving lives, protecting jobs
• Conditional cash transfer programmes: a useful step in the fight against poverty
  08 April 2008 - Conditional cash transfer programmes constitute an important tool for reducing poverty and promoting social inclusion – two key objectives of the International Labour Organization. Mexico has one of the most successful programmes of this type, which was recently the focus of a seminar at the ILO headquarters in Geneva. ...

March 2008 

• Getting out of the mud: how the ILO helps typhoon victims in the Philippines
  27 March 2008 - In 2006, the Bicol region of the Philippines was hit by two typhoons affecting more than 200,000 families. A recent ILO mission to the country revealed that 30 per cent of the workers concerned were unemployed and many more in precarious jobs. Last February, the ILO opened a livelihood center in the region which is part of a capacity building programme for the victims. ...
• International Women's Day 2008 - Smart women, right decisions: a recipe for decent work
  06 March 2008 - More and more women are entering the labour markets around the world, according to a new report published by the ILO to coincide with International Women’s Day. However, women continue to bear the brunt when it comes to vulnerable employment. Investing in decent work for women is not only right, but smart, says the ILO. Here are two stories that prove so.
• International Women’s Day 2008 – Financing for gender equality and empowerment of women: Report from Ethiopia
  06 March 2008 - The ILO annually celebrates International Women’s Day with a unique theme focusing on women in the world of work. This year’s focus will be on promoting Decent Work and the empowerment of women, under the slogan “Investing in Decent Work for Women: Not just right, but smart”. Among the global events to be held around Women’s Day are a series of activities in Ethiopia. ILO News reports.

February 2008 

• Vienna Forum to Fight Human Trafficking, 13-15 February 2008 - Passport wanted: combating human trafficking and forced labour
  12 February 2008 - The biggest ever international conference on human trafficking represents a unique opportunity to forge a global alliance against this form of modern slavery. At least 2.4 million people are victims of trafficking for the purpose of forced labour around the world generating an estimated US$32 billion in annual profits. ...
  • The UN.GIFT Vienna Forum to Fight Human Trafficking
  • Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour
• Coming out of crisis in Africa: the role of social dialogue
  11 February 2008 - Over the last 10 years, the ILO’s Regional Programme for the Promotion of Social Dialogue in French-speaking Africa (PRODIAF) has helped more than 20 African countries to promote social dialogue between governments, employers and workers and prevent social conflict. Putting particular emphasis on countries coming out of crisis, the programme enters its third phase this year. ...
• Hope for Haiti’s restavecs: South-South cooperation against child labour
  01 February 2008 - About 600 miles off coast Florida and only a two hour plane ride from Miami, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere where an estimated 300,000 children work as child labourers. Last month, the Brazilian government announced a programme to fight child labour in Haiti to be coordinated by the ILO’s International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (ILO-IPEC). ...
  • Brazil, ILO launch South-South cooperation against child labour

January 2008 

• Strengthening security on the high seas and in world ports: ILO Convention on seafarers’ ID card gains new momentum
  25 January 2008 - A growing number of countries have already ratified the ILO's Seafarers' Identity Documents Convention No.185 adopted in 2003 or will do so in the near future. The international Convention came into force in February 2005 and creates the first globally applicable system of biometric identification for secure identity documents for the estimated 1.2 million seafarers in the world.
  • C185 - Seafarers' Identity Documents Convention (Revised), 2003
• ILO, UN deliver as one in Albania: A package for social and economic progress
  18 January 2008 - With only 21 per cent of the purchasing power of the average European Union (EU) citizen, Albania has the lowest per capita income in Europe (European Statistics Office - Eurostat) and faces a long transition to a market economy. ...

December 2007 

• Disability in the world of work - Interview with Actress Marlee Matlin
  21 December 2007 - Actress Marlee Matlin often says that the only thing deaf people can’t do is hear. With access to communication and the right tools, people with disabilities have shown themselves to be exemplary workers.
  • A video message from actress Marlee Matlin -
  • Actress Marlee Matlin, "leading lady" for people with disabilities -

November 2007 

• Jamaica HIV/AIDS workplace education: Changing attitudes, saving lives, and protecting jobs
  29 November 2007 - AIDS remains one of the leading causes of death among Caribbeans aged 25 to 44 years, making the region the second most affected in the world after sub-Saharan Africa. The ILO’s ‘SHARE’ programme works with governments, employers and workers to provide prevention and care, helping save the lives of workers and keep them in decent jobs. ...
• Collaborating for change: Government, teachers and trade unions join the fight against HIV/AIDS in Ukraine
  29 November 2007 - According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Health, annual HIV diagnoses in Ukraine have more than doubled since 2001, reaching 16,000 in 2006. However the Government is also taking urgent steps to respond.
• Fully Fit at Work: disabled workers in Poland
  29 November 2007 - Like in other European, countries inactivity rates of Polish workers with disabilities tend to be much higher than that of other workers. While their share of the working age population in Poland is 10 per cent, their share in employment is only 3.8 per cent. But there are also signs of improvement as the story of Paweł and his employer show. ...
  • Promoting employment opportunities for persons with disabilities in Poland -
• How microfinance institutions can finance lasting social change
  21 November 2007 - An estimated US$4 billion is invested annually in microfinance around the world. But while microfinance institutions must have strong business models in order to survive, they face the challenge of making profits while creating lasting social change. ...
  • Measuring a microfinance institution's efficiency: Interview with Bernd Balkhenhol, editor of the new book "Microfinance and public policy" -
• Trade unions and globalization: trends, challenges and responses
  21 November 2007 - Globalization has proved a complex and multi-faceted process for workers around the world, as are the strategies they must develop to face its challenges. A new ILO book examines some of the crucial issues facing the trade union movement...
• ILO Forum Marking 30th anniversary of the ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles on Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy.
  15 November 2007 - This year, the ILO marks the 30th Anniversary of one of its most significant achievements – the adoption of the ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy. The anniversary forms the basis for “MultiForum 07” which begins today, and brings together around 200 participants from companies, governments and labour organizations from around the world.