Features

2012

1. 

   Local development

   Tourism benefits Viet Nam’s rural poor

   01 November 2012

   Inland hilltribe villagers in Quang Nam province have increased their earnings by developing products such as traditional weavings, spices, tea gift baskets and home stay services for tourists, with the help of an ILO project and funding from the Luxembourg Government. By Tran Quynh Hoa, ILO Country Office for Viet Nam.

2. 

   Rural economies

   Cultivating the green shoots of rural areas

   18 October 2012

   The ILO looks to harnessing the potential of the world’s rural areas as city dwellers in the developing world struggle to find work.

3. 

   Microinsurance

   Insuring livestock to protect the poor

   12 October 2012

   Livestock insurance has the potential to reduce the vulnerability of poor populations. The challenges are formidable, but recent technology offers hope.

4. 

   World Tourism Day 2012

   Trekking boosts rural income in Nepal

   26 September 2012

   Following the end of the Maoist insurgency in Nepal, the ILO launched a project to promote employment and accelerate peace-building in 2007. Opening new routes for tourism that benefit local people is part of the project.

5. 

   Article

   Bangladesh: Lighting the Way to a Greener World of Work

   22 June 2012

   Solar home systems can be an alternative source of energy in developing countries like Bangladesh, where half of the population, or about 85 million people, lack access to grid-based electricity. Solar panels bring clean energy and green jobs to rural areas, an issue that is high on the Rio+20 agenda. Allan Dow reports.

6. 

   Q&A

   Gender equality in the rural sector: The ever-present challenge

   02 March 2012

   The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day – Empower Rural Women, end poverty and hunger – highlights the need to tackle gender inequalities in the rural sector. Women living and working in rural areas are often perceived and treated as second-class citizens. Despite the low level of recognition given to their work, their socio-economic contribution to the welfare of their households and communities is immense. In this interview, ILO Gender Bureau Director Jane Hodges discusses the many facets of the plight of rural women.

2007

1. 

   Article

   Creating a "socialist harmonious society in the countryside": Towards universal health insurance in rural China

   30 January 2007

   In 2003, the government launched a New Rural Cooperative Medical Insurance (NRCMI) with an ambitious objective of covering all rural residents by 2010. The new health insurance system is seen as a central pillar of the government's plan to improve the working and living conditions of the country's huge agricultural workforce and eliminate poverty in the countryside. Will it be feasible?

2006

1. 

   Article

   Regional Meeting for the Americas 2-5 May - Forced labour in Latin America: Fighting impunity

   02 May 2006

   In Latin America, 1.3 million people are victims of forced labour, representing more than 10 per cent of forced labourers worldwide. According to the report prepared for the ILO Regional Meeting for the Americas, despite this high number it is possible to drastically reduce forced labour over the next 10 years if there is a will to do so. ILO Online reports from Brazil.