Features

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.

2. 

   Article

   Public-private partnerships in Asia Pacific – the best of two systems

   26 August 2011

   Public-private partnerships are gaining increasing traction in international development cooperation and are being used more and more by the International Labour Organization (ILO). By Wolfgang Schiefer, Chief, Regional Partnerships, Resource Mobilization and UN Reform, ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

3. 

   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.

4. 

   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.

5. 

   Article

   World Day for Safety and Health at Work - OSH Management system: A tool for continual improvement

   26 April 2011

   Each year, governments, employers and workers mark the World Day for Safety and Health. This year’s theme for the day is “Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Management System: A tool for continual improvement”. Improvement is in fact needed: according to ILO data, an estimated 337 million workplace accidents and 2.3 million deaths occur per year, or some 6,300 deaths every day. ILO Online examines how OSH management systems can make a difference.

2009

1. 

   Safety and health at work

   Questions and answers on Occupational Safety and Health in times of economic crisis

   27 April 2009

   With credit barely flowing and global demand on a downward slide, enterprises around the world are struggling to cope with the global economic crisis. Meanwhile, the numbers of unemployed and working poor are rising. How is the crisis affecting working conditions? For this year’s World Day for Safety and Health at Work (28 April), ILO Online asks Dr. Sameera Al-Tuwaijiri, Director of the ILO’s Safe Work Programme, how the crisis may impact on the health and safety of workers.

2. 

   Maritime Labour Convention

   Achieving the seafarers’ international bill of rights: more than half way there!

   23 February 2009

   When the ILO adopted the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) on 23 February 2006, Director-General Juan Somavia called it a historic moment for the world’s more than 1.2 million seafarers. Three years on, in line with the ILO’s five-year Action Plan, this key global agreement has now been ratified by five major flag States and key ILO Members, representing nearly 45 per cent of the world’s gross tonnage. Many more Member ratifications supported by international industry agreements are already under way.

2008

1. Article

   Executive summary:Globalization, Flexibilization and Working Conditions in Asia and the Pacific

   10 August 2008

2. Article

   Promotional Flyer:Globalization, Flexibilization and Working Conditions in Asia and the Pacific

   10 August 2008

2006

1. 

   Article

   "Maid in Lebanon": protecting the rights of migrant domestic workers

   13 April 2006

   Driven by extreme poverty in their home countries, thousands of female migrant workers go each year to the Arab States in order to earn enough money to support their families. What they find there is sometimes not what they expected. , a film directed by Carol Mansour and funded by Caritas Sweden, the Netherlands Embassy in Beirut and the ILO depicts the gamble these women take when they decide to leave their families and go to work in Lebanon.