Articles

August 2007

1. 

   A voice for dialogue and decent work

   01 August 2007

   In June, the ILO awarded its first annual Decent Work Research Prize to Nobel Peace laureate and former South African President Nelson Mandela and the eminent academic and specialist in social security, Professor Carmelo Mesa-Lago...

July 2007

1. 

   Preventing occupational accidents and diseases: Japan becomes first country to ratify ILO Convention No.187

   24 July 2007

   On 24 July, Japan became the first country to ratify ILO Convention No. 187 committing itself to reinforce its OSH system. The Convention which establishes a promotional framework for occupational safety and health (OSH) was adopted by the International Labour Conference in June 2006. ILO Online reports from Japan where a number of serious occupational safety and health problems highlighted the need to further reinforce prevention programmes.

2. 

   Timor-Leste: Setting the STAGE for a brighter future

   13 July 2007

   Despite a significant boost in national income last year from oil revenues, Timor-Leste is amongst the world’s poorest nations. While unemployment in rural areas is at least 20 per cent, it reaches 43 per cent among urban youth. ILO Online reports from Timor-Leste where the ILO’s STAGE programme supports an enabling business environment that will be critical in the years ahead to create decent and gainful employment and reduce income poverty.

3. 

   When global leaders discuss business and labour principles - Global Compact Leaders Summit 2007

   09 July 2007

   What are the benefits and challenges of implementing labour principles in supply chains? What support from the ILO or the Global Compact would be useful for implementing such principles? These and other questions were the gist of the discussion on labour during the Global Compact Leaders’ Summit here. ILO on-line reports.

4. 

   International Day of Cooperatives 2007 - Seeds of change: cooperatives in Ethiopia

   05 July 2007

   Celebrated annually on the first Saturday of July, the International Day of Cooperatives highlights this year how cooperatives can promote corporate social responsibility by their very nature as enterprises that balance economic, environmental, and social imperatives. ILO Online reports from Ethiopia where the ILO helped to organize more than 100,000 coffee producers in 115 cooperatives.

June 2007

1. 

   Promoting sustainable enterprises: safe work is also good business

   21 June 2007

   “Sustainable enterprises cannot afford to have injuries and diseases at work, which would not only interrupt operations but may have strong economic and reputational consequences”. Eleven enterprises from the Leningrad region in Russia’s North-West had a chance to check this statement from an ILO report to the International Labour Conference against daily practice. Olga Bogdanova reports from North-West Russia.

2. 

   “For fishers their ship is their home, and for many the crew is their only family”

   19 June 2007

   On the 14th of June, the ILO’s 96th International Labour Conference adopted a new Convention and Recommendation on work in the fishing sector. The new instruments are aimed to ensure decent living and working conditions for some 30 million workers in the global fishing industry. ILO Online reports from Ukraine where the fishing industry is currently in crisis.

3. 

   Feature story from the Philippines: Making future harvests without child labour

   11 June 2007

   Seventy per cent of the world’s working children are in agriculture. From tending cattle to harvesting crops, handling dangerous machinery and spraying pesticides, over 132 million children aged 5 to 14 help produce the food we eat and the clothes we wear. Minette Rimando who works for the ILO’s Subregional Office in Manila reports from the Philippines.

4. 

   Role Reversal: When it comes to who works the longest hours, many Philippine women are the global exception

   08 June 2007

   A new ILO study says men average longer working hours in paid work than women in almost every country around the world for which data are available. The sole exception to this pattern is the Philippines where employed women were two to three times more likely than men to work exceptionally long hours of over 64 hours per week. Minette Rimando of the ILO’s Subregional Office in Manila reports from the Philippines.

May 2007

1. 

   Improving living and working conditions in the fishing sector - 96th session of the International Labour Conference

   29 May 2007

   Delegates to the 96th International Labour Conference will consider a new international labour standard that revises the seven existing ILO standards on fishing adopted between 1920 and 1966. The discussions will focus on living and working conditions of some 30 million people who work in the global fishing sector, one of the world’s most dangerous. ILO Online reports from Ireland where the loss of two trawlers and seven fishermen has brought the sector to the forefront of public attention.