Features

2013

1. 

   World Day Against Child Labour 2013

   From classroom to college – A champion for child workers

   12 June 2013

   When Farzana Hassan began teaching a handful of child labourers at an ILO project in Pakistan, she never imagined that, years later, she would have turned her classroom into a fully-fledged college for girls.

2. 

   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.

3. 

   Migrant workers

   Fighting forced labour with education

   04 January 2013

   Nepalese women migrating as domestic workers often risk falling prey to human trafficking. A little knowledge can go a long way towards reducing their vulnerability.

2012

1. 

   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.

2. 

   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.

3. 

   Article

   Campaign for domestic workers’ rights gathers pace

   29 February 2012

   The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day, 8 March, is “Empower Rural Women, End Poverty and Hunger”. One path that many rural women take to escape poverty is to become a domestic worker in a big city household or overseas. Yet when they do, many find themselves exploited, with little or no legal protection to guarantee basic rights to pay, rest and freedom from abuse. However following the adoption of the ILO Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189), the campaign to ensure domestic workers’ rights are respected is gaining momentum. By Lotte Kejser, Chief Technical Advisor, ILO Country Office for Indonesia and Timor Leste

2011

1. 

   Article

   Ms Thanh gets a passport; Skills training holds rural families, communities together

   02 December 2011

   Story of Tran Thi Thanh, a 43-year-old grandmother in My Loc, who acquired her first-ever passport and will use it to find work in Taiwan as a domestic workers.

2. 

   Feature story

   Questions and answers on the hidden reality of children in domestic work

   08 August 2011

   The recently approved ILO Convention No. 189 and Recommendation No. 201 on decent work for domestic workers aim to protect and improve working and living conditions of millions of workers worldwide, who have few – if any – labour rights. Many are children who spend long hours working as domestic helpers, performing tasks such as cleaning, ironing, cooking, minding other children and gardening instead of being at school. ILO News spoke to ILO experts Martin Oelz (TRAVAIL) and José M. Ramírez (IPEC) on the current situation of child domestic workers and how the new Convention and Recommendation can help impact their lives.

3. 

   Feature story

   Questions and Answers on the Convention Concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers

   21 June 2011

   The landmark treaty setting standards for the treatment of domestic workers that was adopted at the International Labour Conference in Geneva has been widely hailed as a milestone. The Convention and accompanying Recommendation on decent work for domestic workers aim at protecting and improving the working and living conditions of domestic workers worldwide - estimated to number anywhere between 53 million and 100 million. ILO Online spoke to Manuela Tomei, Director of the ILO’s Conditions of Work and Employment Programme.

4. 

   Article

   Recognition for India’s invisible workers

   30 May 2011

   Domestic workers play an important role in the economy and they allow others to go out and earn money. Yet they remain invisible, unprotected and their contribution is often not recognized. At the forthcoming International Labour Conference (in Geneva, 1-17 June) the ILO and its members will debate drafts that could lead to the first international instruments specifically designed to protect domestic workers. By Neelam Agnihotri, Communication & Information Officer, ILO Country Office for India