Articles

August 2009

1. 

   Facing the global jobs crisis: Migrant workers, a population at risk

   13 August 2009

   The global economic crisis is posing new challenges for the world's 100 million migrant workers. They may face reduced employment and migration opportunities, worsening living and working conditions and increasing xenophobia. Although no massive return of migrant workers has been observed so far, the crisis is having repercussions on their earnings and the remittances they send home. Ibrahim Awad, Director of the International Migration Programme at the International Labour Office, published a new study entitled "The global economic crisis and migrant workers: Impact and response". Interview with ILO Online.

2. 

   Community tourism: respecting nature, local culture and indigenous peoples’ rights while on vacation

   07 August 2009

   Indigenous peoples throughout the world share a common experience of marginalization and discrimination. The non-recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights to their traditional lands, territories and resources has impaired their opportunity to engage in traditional occupations. The lack of access to credit, marketing facilities and other resources, further threatens their livelihoods and way of life. In this context, new forms of community-based activities are crucial as a basis for alternative livelihood strategies. ILO Online reports from Guatemala.

3. 

   International Labour Conference 2009: World leaders support ILO “Global Jobs Pact”

   01 August 2009

   The Pact received strong support from heads of State and government, vice-presidents, ministers of labour, workers and employers and other economic and labour leaders participating in an ILO Jobs Summit on 15–17 June. The summit provided a first-of-its-kind opportunity to discuss policies that are being implemented at national and international levels to address the global jobs crisis.

4. 

   From the right to “combine” to the right to organize

   01 August 2009

   From about 1750 onwards, workers had started to organize in Europe. Governments and employers reacted quickly, and laws and regulations were adopted to restrict such activities.

5. 

   The crisis in the construction industry

   01 August 2009

   The construction industry has been severely hit by the economic crisis. The ILO calculates that at least 5 million construction workers lost their jobs during 2008.

6. 

   The crisis and the future of the automobile industry: Putting the spark back into the automobile industry

   01 August 2009

   Few of the delegates at the ILO’s tripartite meeting on the auto manufacturing sector four years ago could have imagined the depth of the crisis which would be engulfing the industry today, as the global recession takes its toll on consumer demand for autos. Andrew Bibby looks at the last few months which have seen venerable names in great difficulties as well as unprecedented government intervention in the sector.

7. 

   Stemming the crisis: World leaders forge “Global Jobs Pact”

   01 August 2009

   Faced with the prospect of a prolonged global increase in unemployment, poverty and inequality and continued duress for enterprises, in June 2009 the ILO adopted a historic Global Jobs Pact designed to guide national and international policies aimed at stimulating economic recovery, generating jobs and providing protection to working people and their families.

July 2009

1. 

   In Zambia, a commitment to inclusive approaches for people with disabilities

   09 July 2009

   An estimated 7 to 9 per cent of women and men in Zambia live with a disability, most of them in poverty. ILO Online reports from the country’s capital Lusaka where Disability Equality Training (DET) is part of a new effort to make sure that the needs of people with disabilities are taken into account in development programmes.

2. 

   Migrant workers’ cooperatives as a crisis response

   03 July 2009

   This year the theme of the International Day of Cooperatives focuses on the opportunities for co-operatives to effectively contribute to global economic recovery in times of crisis. In Indonesia, thousands of migrant workers, victims of the unfolding economic and social crisis, are returning home. Setting-up a cooperative is one option for these returning migrants, as this report by Gita F. Lingga, ILO Communication Officer in Jakarta, shows.

June 2009

1. 

   The Economic Crisis in Asia: It’s about real people, real jobs

   26 June 2009

   When the financial crisis predictably turned into a jobs crisis, the Asia-Pacific region found itself facing mass unemployment. As many as 100 million people in Asia could be unemployed this year, according to ILO estimates. Allan Dow, ILO press officer, reports from Thailand.