2004

1. Gawanas Bience: "Decent work is about realizing how each of us can make a contribution to the whole"

   23 April 2004

2. Pulling back from the edge of poverty: Social security coverage for all

   14 April 2004

   Only 5-10% of Africa's workers have any social security coverage to tide them through sickness, disability, unemployment, pregnancy or old age. In the face of tremendous challenges, the ILO experience in West Africa has shown that there are ways to extend coverage. In Senegal, where community-based micro health insurance schemes are paving the way, the ILO is launching the "Global Campaign on Social Security and Coverage for All" in Dakar on 14 April.

3. Innovation: The key to social security

   14 April 2004

   The Portuguese-speaking African countries plan to develop social security systems. The ILO recommends an innovative approach to extending social security coverage.

4. New ILO Study: How the right environment can create good jobs in micro- and small-enterprises

   24 March 2004

5. Child trafficking in Moldova

   15 March 2004

   An estimated 1.2 million children worldwide are victims of child trafficking. One of them is Ioana, who was trafficked from Moldova to Ukraine. Natalia Cojocaru, a Moldavian journalist for the newspaper "Timpul" reports.

6. New study: Balancing flexibility and security in Central and Eastern Europe

   04 March 2004

   A new study published by the ILO says that for many workers in the new Europe, post-Communist era reforms have meant more work and less job security. " Labour markets in transition: Balancing flexibility and security in Central and Eastern Europe" says that while labour market flexibility is increasing in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, workers also often face a sharp increase in open unemployment. As a result, these transition economies need to find a way to balance between more open labour markets and job and income security.

7. International Women's Day 2004

   01 March 2004

   Before women had many rights, they at least had their day. The first recorded National Women's Day occurred in the United States in 1909. A year later, the Socialist International, meeting in Copenhagen, established a Woman's Day "to honor the movement for women's rights and to assist in achieving universal suffrage" ( Note 1). The following year, 1911, International Women's Day (IWD) was celebrated for the first time across Europe, demanding the right to work, vocational training and an end to discrimination.

8. World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization: Globalization can and must change

   01 March 2004

   Can globalization change so its benefits are shared more equitably by people and countries? It not only can change, it must, says a new, groundbreaking report, presented to the ILO by the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization. The Commission's report says building a fair and inclusive globalization must become a worldwide priority.

9. Strangers in a foreign land - Migration's hidden risk: Increased child trafficking

   01 March 2004

   In many parts of the world, migration is adding a new dimension to the child labour problem, exposing many children to potential exploitation by traffickers. This article explains how migrants can fall into the trafficking trap and how the ILO is working to stop this worst form of child labour.

10. Global Employment Trends 2004: Record joblessness, but relief may be on the way

    01 March 2004

    Despite a second-half economic recovery in 2003, global unemployment continued its relentless climb, hitting a new record of 185.9 million for men and women, rising especially sharply for young people. Meanwhile, the number of "working poor" remained at an all-time high of 550 million. A hopeless scenario? Not quite, says a new ILO report.