Articles

December 2008

1. 

   From high fashion ‘alta moda’ to dress-making in Ukraine

   17 December 2008

   At 16 per cent, the region of Chernivtsi in Ukraine has the highest unemployment rate in the country and the lowest number of women employed. This is why the region was chosen for an ILO project, funded by Development Cooperation Ireland, that addresses the root causes of labour migration and tries to stem irregular migration and trafficking through training, job placement and entrepreneurial activities. ILO Online reports from Chernivtsi, Ukraine.

2. 

   Migrants in times of economic crisis: ILO/UNDP join forces to make Tajik migration safe

   16 December 2008

   Tajikistan is the poorest of the Central Asian republics and a huge supplier of migrants: 800 000 of its 7 million inhabitants, most of them men, are working abroad. While many migrants are already at risk of all kinds of abuse, they may also become the first victims of the current financial and economic crisis. ILO and UNDP have joined forces to empower migrant communities and make migration safe. Olga Bogdanova from the ILO Moscow office reports from the Tajik capital Dushanbe.

3. 

   The ILO at 90: Working for social justice

   01 December 2008

   As we mark the 90th anniversary of the ILO, the Organization’s values and mandate endure.

4. 

   Workplaces are key avenues for responding to the challenge of HIV/AIDS

   01 December 2008

   This year, the International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA 2008) is being held in Senegal. Mr. Assane Diop, Executive Director of the ILO’s Social Protection Sector, answers our questions.

November 2008

1. 

   Driving for change: action on HIV/AIDS in the road transport sector

   28 November 2008

   In a number of countries, HIV prevalence is higher among road transport workers than in the general population. To respond to the challenge of HIV/AIDS in the sector, workers’ and employers’ representatives from around the world will meet in Geneva on World AIDS Day, 1 December, for a training and learning event. ILO Online reports from a border crossing between Kenya and Uganda.

2. 

   From Veil to Camera: Empowering women through skills training

   13 November 2008

   In many countries, women face more barriers than men to acquire the necessary skills to use new technologies and to start innovative economic activities. For the 60 per cent of women employed in agriculture in South Asia, access to quality education, skills training and entrepreneurship development tools not only represents a way out of poverty, but also provides them with opportunities of empowerment in the world of technology, as this ILO Online report from central India shows.

3. 

   Proper ship breaking: a test for globalization and decent work

   03 November 2008

   The last voyage of the ship "Otapan" to a Turkish ship breaking yard last July was a victory for "pre-cleaning" advocates of reducing the human and environmental dangers inherent in ship dismantling and recycling. But does it also lead to decent working practices? Last week, experts from the ILO, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and the Basel Convention met to discuss measures to promote guidelines that would make ship breaking not only clean but "green". Questions and answers with a ship breaking expert from the ILO Sectoral Activities Branch.

October 2008

1. 

   Revisiting the Minimum wage in the Enlarged EU: Addressing changes and challenges in the labour markets

   29 October 2008

   The minimum wage has returned to the core of the EU policy agenda. EU enlargement and increased migration flows for employment and better pay are one factor, but others include the significant rise in non-standard forms of employment, normally associated with lower wages, high proportions of low-paying jobs, rising insecurity and growing numbers of working poor. This week, an ILO–EC Conference in Brussels revisits the question of minimum wages in Europe and their influence on earnings and well-being of low paid workers and their families. ILO Online spoke with Daniel Vaughan-Whitehead from the ILO’s Conditions of Work and Employment Programme.

2. 

   As shipping increases, so does the need for more port State control

   09 October 2008

   In response to an oil spill that fouled the west coast of France in 1978, European ministers took decisive action to establish a regional system for inspections of foreign ships in 1982. Yet the growing numbers of ship detentions in many ports worldwide show the continuous need for a global system of regular port inspections. From 22-26 September, more than 300 government, ship owner and seafarer representatives met at the ILO to adopt new guidelines on port state control under the Maritime Labour Convention of 2006. In this special report, ILO Online shows how inspections work and why they are needed.

3. Working in a ‘man’s world’: women in the Fiji police force

   08 October 2008

   There are higher proportions of women in public services worldwide, and an increasing number of equal opportunities policies exist globally. Nevertheless the ILO Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention (No. 111) adopted in 1958 remains as relevant today as it was in the late 1950s – in the Pacific region and elsewhere. An interview with Kasanita Seruvatu, former Director of Training in the Fijian Police and now Training Advisor to the Samoa Police, who was spearheading initiatives in the two countries to create a stronger ethnic and gender balance and empower women to take up challenging roles in the police force over the last 10 years.