All ILO Newsroom content

June 2012

1. 

   Article

   A green plumber for a greener economy

   21 June 2012

   The transition towards a greener economy is expected to affect about half of the global labour force or roughly 1.5 billion people. This means changes in terms of job types and workers’ skills – a topic that is high on the Rio+20 agenda.

2. 

   Article

   Rio+Social: social media must ‘defriend’ the waste of Earth’s resources

   20 June 2012

   A global online discussion highlighted the power social media can wield in the debate on our planet’s future. The daylong event was held as world leaders converged on Rio de Janeiro for the Rio+20 Summit.

3. 

   Video coverage

   Myanmar needs democracy-friendly development growth, says Aung San Suu Kyi

   14 June 2012

   Aung San Suu Kyi called for international aid and investment to promote economic progress in Myanmar and in particular focussed attention on the problem of youth unemployment. Highlighting the potential of her country both in terms of its natural and human resources, she noted, "it is not so much joblessness as hopelessness that threatens our future. The Nobel laureate made her landmark address to a packed Assembly Hall at the 101st session of the International Labour Conference in Geneva, Switzerland.

February 2012

1. 

   Article

   After the storm: Rebuilding livelihoods in the Philippines

   02 February 2012

   Natural disasters destroy livelihoods but the aftermath also offers opportunities to create jobs and revitalise the economy as there will be high demand for construction and other recovery works. For the last ten years, the ILO has engaged in post-disaster reconstruction in countries in Asia and the Pacific, including China, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and beyond. So the Organization was also prepared to help when tropical storm Washi heavily affected villages and major cities in the Philippines last December. Minette Rimando from the ILO office in Manila reports.

September 2011

1. 

   Feature story

   Greying of the workforce in retail commerce: Questions and answers

   20 September 2011

   According to a recent ILO study, 2 billion people will be aged 60 or over by 2050. While most discussions about population ageing turn around the sustainability of pension systems, a forthcoming ILO meeting to be held in Geneva on 21-22 September, will focus on the impact of the greying of societies on labour supply in the retail commerce sector, an industry that has traditionally drawn a large proportion of its workers from people aged 30 and under. ILO Online spoke with John Sendanyoye, the ILO’s Commerce Sector Specialist.

February 2011

1. 

   Article

   Youth join green jobs push in China

   15 February 2011

   Yang Shumbo, a Chinese electronic sciences student invented a device to save electricity. He developed this into a business under a pilot project of the Greener Business Option (GBO), an ILO Green Jobs Programme initiative. GBO aims to encourage entrepreneurship in green businesses among young people. Report from Chengdu, China, by Satoshi Sasaki, Specialist on Enterprise Development and Job Creation, ILO Beijing and Vincent Jugault, Senior Specialist in Environment and Decent Work, ILO Bangkok.

December 2010

1. 

   News

   Cancun Agreement: ILO highlights call for a “Just Transition” with green jobs and decent work

   15 December 2010

   The ILO praised the 16th Conference of Parties (COP16) on climate change for including social and decent work dimensions in the outcome document, signaling broad recognition for a “just transition” to a low-carbon economy with decent work and greener jobs.

December 2009

1. 

   From the field

   Haiti: From Storm Recovery to Sustainable Development

   09 December 2009

   In 2004, Hurricane Jeanne swept through the historical port city of Gonaïves in Haiti, sending walls of water and mud down the surrounding slopes and changing the face of the city forever. A project managed by the International Labour Organization (ILO) has been helping local residents organize themselves to build erosion control networks to protect the city from future mudslides and heavy run-off. ILO TV reports.

October 2009

1. 

   Environment

   Climate change in Asia: while awareness is increasing, the water is rising

   06 October 2009

   As global awareness on climate change increases, some regions of the world are already suffering from its consequences. In one such area in the Philippines, the ILO has launched a new project to lessen the impact of changing weather patterns on the local economy. This experience illustrates the challenge of adapting to climate change which will be one of the items on the agenda of Climate Change Talks involving 2,500 participants in Bangkok until 9 October to prepare for the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December. The ILO’s Communication officer Minette Rimando reports.

September 2009

1. 

   Gender equality

   India’s barefoot solar engineers fight climate change and poverty

   04 September 2009

   The year 2009 marks the 10th anniversary of the ILO’s gender equality action plan, and the end of a year-long global ILO campaign on gender equality and the world of work. One of the themes of the campaign was the linkage between climate change and the role of women in the world of work. Mandy Cunningham, a freelance journalist, reports from Rajasthan, India where women are at the forefront of what the ILO calls Green Jobs; jobs which are created as a result of economies adapting to climate and environmental change.