Articles

February 2012

1. 

   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 Sarah Cramer, lead author of the ILO study.

2. 

   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.

January 2012

1. 

   How the ILO supports change in the Arab world

   17 January 2012

   The world has been transfixed in admiration at the courage of the women and men who have taken to the streets across the Arab States over the past year. Farah Dakhlallah, ILO Regional Outreach and Advocacy Officer in Beirut, reports from Yemen and Lebanon where the ILO assists in preparing a better future for workers in the region.

2. 

   Building Haiti through training and employability programmes

   06 January 2012

   As a reaction to the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti in January 2010, the international community has pledged multi-billion US$ support programmes. However, the country will only be able to harvest this massive support if it finds qualified professional and technical staff for implementation. ILO Online spoke with Michael Axmann, a senior ILO skills development specialist, about a new ILO proposal for a large-scale training and employment programme to strengthen employability of Haitian workers and productivity of Haitian enterprises.

December 2011

1. 

   From the depths of an African shantytown, a nascent youth employment movement grows

   14 December 2011

   In Africa’s second largest slum, youth unemployment is sky high. But cooperative projects are helping youth find work and slowly lift themselves out of poverty through such projects as raising food in community gardens, processing waste for bio-fuel or providing improved sanitation. Journalist Anne Holmes reports on how this emerging economic revival is making a small but significant dent in a major ongoing challenge.

2. 

   Questions and answers on food security

   13 December 2011

   Recent food price shocks threaten some 1 billion people with hunger. Meanwhile, there is growing evidence that climate change, along with rampant commodity speculation and lack of social protection are contributing to widespread food insecurity, resulting in hunger, poverty and even increased child labour. ILO On-line talked to Marva Corley-Coulibaly and Uma Rani Amara, senior economists at the ILO International Institute for Labour Studies about the growing concerns over food insecurity, and what urgent actions are needed to address the crisis.

3. 

   Freeing Cambodia's children from work by 2016-A real possibility?

   02 December 2011

   Story of Nit's family, her family lives in a shaky thatch hut a short walk from the magnificent Ta Prohm ruins in the Angkor World Heritage Site. Her grandfather abandoned his family 15 years ago, and with no farm land, everyone has done their bit to stay together. Like her mother, aunt and grandmother, Nit now sells bracelets, postcards and magnets to tourists

4. 

   The dreamweaver of Lake Sebu

   02 December 2011

   Story of Subi Nalon, the seventy-five-year-old inherited the skill from her mother and has been weaving t'nalak since he was 15.

5. Cambodia's young people look for a brighter future

   02 December 2011

   Story of Yeth Chenda, 21-year-old Yeth CHenda recently found a job as a receptionist in a rural hotel in Kampot, Southern Cambodia, with the assistance of an International Labour Organization (ILO) job centre project

6. 

   Mrs 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