A group of children in Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world, are finally able to dream about a life free from child labour. Globally, the number of child labourers has declined since 2000, from 246 million to 168 million. But this is not enough to achieve the goal of eliminating the worst forms of child labour by 2016.

A crowd of Chinese students queue for a job fair in the Zhejiang province. Globally, an estimated 73.4 million young people are expected to be out of work in 2013, close to the levels reached at the peak of the economic crisis in 2009. This is an increase of 3.5 million between 2007 and 2013.

Nasima Akter, a survivor from the 24 April Rana Plaza garment building collapse in Bangladesh reflects after the incident. Six months after the collapse, the ILO has launched an initiative to help survivors develop new skills and find decent jobs through its technical vocational education and training reform project.

Antônia lives in Barras, a town accustomed to seeing its children leave in search of a job and a better life. Some return with little, others with even less and some don't return at all. Forced labour often means unpaid wages, excessively long work hours without rest days, confiscation of ID documents, little freedom of movement, deception, intimidation and physical or sexual violence. This year the ILO and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) partnered to combat trafficking of women and girls with the launch of the "Work In Freedom" project.

Foreigners residing in Lebanon hold a sign during a cultural parade and festival to call for an end to Lebanon's sponsorship system for migrant domestic workers in Beirut . Over 50 million people around the world – mainly women -are employed as domestic workers. Domestic workers are frequently expected to work longer hours than other workers and in many countries do not have the same rights that are enjoyed by other workers. The ILO's Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189) came into force on 5 September 2013, extending basic labour rights to domestic workers around the globe.

New figures from the ILO show that 42 per cent of workers in developing countries - nearly 1.1 billion workers - are now “middle-class,” living with their families on more than US$4 per person per day.

A native from the Brazilian Pataxo tribe poses with his daughter. Across the world, there are 370 million self-identified indigenous peoples in some 70 countries around the world. Many live in poverty, face discrimination and struggle to make their voices heard. The ILO's Convention 169 is the only international instruments currently in force that deal exclusively with the rights of indigenous people.

Construction workers in Egypt using proper safety equipment during working hours. Worldwide, occupational diseases continue to be the leading cause of work-related deaths. Every minute, 4 workers die from a work-related accident or disease and every minute 640 workers have a work-related accident.

Today. there are 232 million migrants worldwide who have left their homes in search of a better and more dignified life for themselves and their families. Migrants make significant and essential contributions to the economic, social and cultural development of their host countries and their communities back home.

Employees at the Port Group Co. Company prepare for work in Tianjin, China. On 20 August, a new “bill of rights” – the ILO’s Maritime Labour Convention-- came into force, ensuring protection for the world’s 1.5 million seafarers and fair competition for shipowners. Seafarers will see huge improvements to their working conditions on board ships.

The changes in Myanmar since the 2010 elections have been dramatic. While it is still relatively early days with some serious issues yet to be resolved, Myanmar's citizens are now enjoying freedoms they have been denied for the last quarter of a century. In December, the Republic of Myanmar became the 178th ILO member state to ratify Convention No. 182 prohibiting the worst forms of child labour.

A typhoon survivor reconstructs his destroyed house in Tacloban, after Typhoon Haiyan hit the east coast of the Philippines on 8 November 2013. The Philippine government, with ILO support, has put in place Emergency Employment Programmes to help disaster-stricken families to begin rebuilding their lives, and reviving the economy, through decent jobs.