Features

2013

1. 

   Social insurance

   A smart way to prevent bonded labour

   03 May 2013

   A young couple and their new baby are the first beneficiaries of a national health insurance scheme which now extends to migrant brick kiln workers at risk of bondage, in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

2. 

   © Sarah-Jane Saltmarsh / ILO 2013

   Bangladesh

   Removing the barriers to inclusion

   28 March 2013

   People with disabilities are overturning negative attitudes and stereotypes, with help from an ILO vocational training project in Bangladesh.

3. 

   Domestic workers

   Uniting on the home front

   11 January 2013

   Against all the odds, domestic workers around the world have joined forces to push for better working conditions.

2012

1. 

   South-South cooperation

   “Alien plants” boost green jobs in South Africa

   20 November 2012

   South Africa has become a success story when it comes to creating jobs and protecting the environment through its Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP). Many other countries in the global south are also benefitting from similar programmes.

2. 

   European labour migration

   From public sector worker in Portugal to cleaner in Switzerland

   20 September 2012

   As protests spread in southern Europe – especially in Greece, Spain and Portugal – against austerity measures, more and more people hit by the crisis are moving to northern countries in search of decent jobs. Public sector workers are not an exception.

3. 

   From the Philippines

   Domestic work is no longer a “domestic issue”

   05 September 2012

   The ratification of ILO Convention 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers by the Philippines this week breaks new ground in extending basic labour rights to the nearly 100 million of domestic workers worldwide. We look at what it will mean for these workers when the Convention comes into force next year.

4. 

   Article

   Viet Nam: Serving markets and workers

   20 July 2012

   Textiles are Viet Nam’s second largest export and provide about two million jobs for local workers. The sector has usually been associated with high productivity and competitiveness, but also with poor working conditions. Is it possible to reconcile the two?

5. 

   Article

   The challenge of getting a job in Cambodia

   19 July 2012

   Unemployment in Cambodia is very low, but that’s because the vast majority of the population works in the informal sector. The government hopes ILO-backed job centres will help increase access to decent work.

6. 

   Article

   Sri Lanka: New hope for war victims

   18 July 2012

   Decades of civil war have left deep scars in Sri Lanka. An ILO training project brings new hope to some of those whose lives and hopes were shattered by the violence.

7. 

   Article

   Thai migrants take recruiters to court

   17 July 2012

   Thai workers often pay large sums to get a job abroad that at times falls well short of what the recruiters’ promised. An ILO initiative has helped former migrants win financial redress.