Articles

April 2009

1. 

   Start at home: promoting local economic development to stem the global economic crisis

   29 April 2009

   Much policy advice has been given to facilitate global finance, trade and investments to connect with the global economy. But much less to reinforce local communities and local markets where people live and want to stay if given the opportunity. Strengthening local communities in developing countries is also a means to help those who will suffer most from the global economic and jobs crisis. ILO Online spoke with Local Economic Development Specialists Kees van der Ree and Matthieu Cognac.

2. 

   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.

3. Coops and the global financial crisis

   23 April 2009

   Cooperatives have been more resilient to the deepening global economic and jobs crisis than other sectors. ILO Online spoke with Hagen Henry, chief of the ILO’s Cooperatives Branch.

4. 

   From crisis to crisis: the impact of the global food crisis on decent work

   09 April 2009

   Since 2007, escalating food prices have created budget turmoil, trade imbalances and inflation and provoked panic and social unrest in some countries. Despite bumper harvests of rice and wheat in 2008 that may have alleviated some of the concern, economies are now grappling with a worsening global economic crisis. Is the evolution of lower prices for grains cause for hope, or will the economic crisis provide cause for fear? The food price situation was discussed in Geneva at an ILO meeting last month. ILO Online asked Dr. Riswanul Islam, Special Advisor on Growth, Employment and Poverty Reduction, to take stock of the impact of the global food crisis on decent work and poverty.

5. 

   Financial crisis: The gender dimension

   01 April 2009

   While the sectors that initially bore the brunt of the global financial crisis were those dominated by male workers – finance, insurance and real estate, construction and manufacturing – the crisis is now hitting service-orientated sectors and wholesale retail trade, which in many industrialized economies are dominated by females. There is also concern for women in the developing world who have no social protection. This issue of Planet Work looks at what the press is saying about the effect of the crisis on the gender gap.

6. 

   Workplace solutions for childcare

   01 April 2009

   Many parents cannot rely on family support networks to look after children while they work. Care by persons from outside the family takes many forms, from live-in nannies to community childcare centres. As most of these arrangements involve a payment, parents in both developing and industrialized countries who work or would like to work are struggling to find childcare that is affordable, convenient and of a reliable quality.

7. 

   Women at work, past and present: Like night and day

   01 April 2009

   As the ILO marks its 90th anniversary, a year-long campaign on gender equality at the heart of decent work culminates with a discussion at the International Labour Conference. The ILO has always been in the forefront of promoting gender equality at work, and women’s rights, and this year’s campaign and discussion will be a milestone in the Organization’s efforts to shine new light on the status of women in the world of work.

8. 

   Gender equality at the heart of decent work

   01 April 2009

   Over the past year the ILO’s Bureau for Gender Equality has held a major awareness-raising campaign: Gender Equality at the Heart of Decent Work. In the following pages World of Work looks at themes of the campaign so far and interviews Jane Hodges, Director of the Bureau for Gender Equality.

March 2009

1. 

   Brazil extends Bolsa Familia during the economic crisis

   20 March 2009

   When the first signs of financial trouble emerged in the industrialized world, predictions were that the “decoupling effect” would insulate the developing world from the crisis. Today, the economic crisis is clearly global and no country is immune. In Brazil, one key measure has been extending a successful cash-transfer programme – Bolsa Familia – to a larger number of poor families. Bolsa Familia was discussed at recent a special session of the ILO Governing Body.

February 2009

1. 

   Microfinance and the real economy: impacts and outcomes of the global economic crisis

   26 February 2009

   The current economic and social crisis provides an opportunity to re-think values and business models in finance. ILO Online spoke with Bernd Balkenhol, chief of the ILO’s Social Finance Programme.