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2012
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Article
Giving young people the right skills for today’s jobs
15 May 2012
At a time when youth unemployment has reached alarming levels, governments are urgently seeking ways to tackle the crisis and defuse the potential time bomb of an increasingly disheartened and angry generation. Journalist Patrick Moser reports.
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Feature
Making public-private partnerships work for better insurance coverage
10 April 2012
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and has seen more than its share of both natural and man-made disasters. In a country like Haiti, microfinance not only helps to create jobs and income, but becomes a relief and survival strategy after disaster. Sarah Bel, Information Officer for the ILO’s Microinsurance Innovation Facility, reports on how public-private partnerships play an important role to scale up quality and affordable insurance products for low-income workers.
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Feature
Social Protection for Thailand’s Informal Economy Workers
05 April 2012
People working in the informal economy are vulnerable and often lack social protection. When natural disasters such as the 2011 flood in Thailand strike, they are frequently left without adequate support. But now the International Labour Organization (ILO) and other United Nations agencies are working with the Thai Government to change this and create a suitable social protection system. Alice Molinier and Kakkanang Ghettalae, ILO Social Protection Consultants, and Poonsap Tulaphan, Foundation for Labour and Employment Promotion report.
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Feature
Giving an ancient craft a new shine: Training youth in the brassware sector in India
27 March 2012
Low levels of education, lack of skills, diplomas or certificates within a technical field severely limit the chances of gainful employment for a vast number of youth in India. A new programme of skills developing and training, however, is providing an alternative. Neelam Agnihotri, ILO communication officer in New Delhi, reports how this initiative is providing new jobs for youth in the centuries-old traditional brassware industry in Moradabad, northern India.
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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.
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Feature
Decent work and education: A win-win combination
01 March 2012
In 2003, Argentina became one the first countries to incorporate the concept of Decent Work to its national development agenda. Since then, a number of government programmes have put into practice different aspects of the Decent Work Agenda. In 2004, Argentina and the ILO teamed up to launch the Building a Future with Decent Work project, which aims to promote and develop the dignity of work in each person. As ILO News explains, this a road that begins in the primary years at school.
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Q&A
Buried in bricks: Bonded labour in Afghanistan
06 February 2012
Bonded labour of adults and children in brick kilns is one of the most prevalent, yet least known forms of hazardous labour in Afghanistan. A new ILO study on the phenomenon marks the first attempt to provide a better understanding of the dynamics of bonded labour in two provinces of the country. ILO Online spoke with Samuel Hall consulting, lead author of the study.
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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.