Issue briefs

2010

1. Fact sheet

   The impact of the crisis by sector (2009)

   17 March 2010

2009

1. Fact sheet

   Disability at work

   10 November 2009

   People with disabilities represent an estimated 10 per cent of the world’s population, or some 650 million people worldwide. Approximately 470 million are of working age.

2. Publication

   Forced Labour: Facts and Figures - The Cost of Coercion, Regional Perspectives: MIDDLE EAST

   12 May 2009

   Questions of forced labour and human trafficking are closely intertwined with migration in the Middle East, particularly in the Gulf States where there is a high proportion of migrant workers compared with national populations. Recent years have seen a steady increase in reporting on issues related to human trafficking and, to a lesser degree, forced labour in the region, as well as adoption of new laws against trafficking.

3. Publication

   Forced Labour: Facts and Figures - The Cost of Coercion, Regional Perspectives: EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA

   12 May 2009

   Until recently, the spotlight throughout Europe has been on forced labour involving undocumented workers or those who have not migrated through regular channels. However, trafficking for labour exploitation, including forced labour, is now moving up the agenda of policy-makers as more evidence of its existence comes to light. It is the predominant form of trafficking in Russia, and possibly in some Western European countries.

4. Publication

   Forced Labour: Facts and Figures - The Cost of Coercion, Regional Perspectives: AMERICAS

   12 May 2009

   Latin America accounts for the second largest number of forced labourers in the world after Asia, according to ILO estimates. Those most at risk are migrant workers in sweatshops, agriculture and domestic service. The main form of forced labour is through debt bondage, involving informal and unlicensed intermediaries who pay advances to entice workers and then reap profits through inflated charges. Forced labour in Latin America is closely linked to patterns of inequality and discrimination, especially against indigenous peoples.

5. Publication

   Forced Labour: Facts and Figures - The Cost of Coercion, Regional Perspectives: ASIA

   12 May 2009

   Asia accounts for by far the biggest share of the world’s forced labourers. Many are migrants, either from elsewhere in Asia or their home country. Research has also shown the existence of forced labour in sectors that had escaped previous attention, including Thailand’s shrimp, fishing and seafood processing industries and shrimp production in Bangladesh.

6. Publication

   Forced Labour: Facts and Figures - The Cost of Coercion, Regional Perspectives: AFRICA

   12 May 2009

   Forced labour has tended to receive less attention in Africa than in other regions, in part because of difficulties in collecting reliable information about the extent and nature of the problem. Nonetheless, Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the third highest incidence of forced labour in relation to population, after Asia and Latin America. And serious abuses have been reported in a number of countries.

7. World Day for Safety and Health 2009

   Facts on safety and health at work issues

   27 April 2009

   The protection of workers’ lives and health has been a key objective of the ILO from its very beginning 90 years ago, as an element of its founding charter.

8. Publication

   8th European Regional Meeting - Facts on new wage challenges: trends and policy issues

   09 February 2009

   The region from mid-90s has experienced some improvements in terms of real wage growth, particularly in countries of Central and Eastern Europe which are now in the EU. However, income and wage differences have widened over the same period.

9. Publication

   8th European Regional Meeting - Facts on social protection in Europe and Central Asia

   09 February 2009

   Over the past two decades, social security in Europe and Central Asia has been marked by change. Many countries have reformed social protection policies in response to fundamental changes in the make up of their population as well as domestic economic developments triggered by the globalization of financial and labour markets.