Articles

September 2011

1. 

   Greying of the workforce in retail commerce: Questions and answers

   20 September 2011

   According to a recent ILO study, 2 billion people will be aged 60 or over by 2050. While most discussions about population ageing turn around the sustainability of pension systems, a forthcoming ILO meeting to be held in Geneva on 21-22 September, will focus on the impact of the greying of societies on labour supply in the retail commerce sector, an industry that has traditionally drawn a large proportion of its workers from people aged 30 and under. ILO Online spoke with John Sendanyoye, the ILO’s Commerce Sector Specialist.

2. 

   The banana agribusiness in the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica: rich ground to create green jobs

   16 September 2011

   The ILO, through the Joint Program for strengthening the Banana value chain by Growing Inclusive Markets, invited a delegation of fifteen technicians and producers of bananas from the Dominican Republic to visit Costa Rica to learn about the experience of this country's banana sector in plastic recycling as well as environmental and labor practices.

3. 

   Questions and Answers on global trends and challenges on occupational safety and health

   12 September 2011

   The XIX World Congress on Safety and Health at Work to be held in Istanbul on 11-15 September provides a major forum to discuss the latest safety and health challenges in the world of work. ILO Online spoke with Seiji Machida, Director of the ILO’s Programme on Safety and Health at Work and the Environment (SafeWork), about the Congress and the challenges ahead.

August 2011

1. 

   Public-private partnerships in Asia Pacific – the best of two systems

   26 August 2011

   Public-private partnerships are gaining increasing traction in international development cooperation and are being used more and more by the International Labour Organization (ILO). By Wolfgang Schiefer, Chief, Regional Partnerships, Resource Mobilization and UN Reform, ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

2. 

   Questions and answers on the hidden reality of children in domestic work

   08 August 2011

   The recently approved ILO Convention No. 189 and Recommendation No. 201 on decent work for domestic workers aim to protect and improve working and living conditions of millions of workers worldwide, who have few – if any – labour rights. Many are children who spend long hours working as domestic helpers, performing tasks such as cleaning, ironing, cooking, minding other children and gardening instead of being at school. ILO News spoke to ILO experts Martin Oelz (TRAVAIL) and José M. Ramírez (IPEC) on the current situation of child domestic workers and how the new Convention and Recommendation can help impact their lives.

3. 

   Gender-based violence comes at high social and economic cost

   01 August 2011

   Gender-based violence negatively impacts the world of work. It is described by many as the most prevalent human rights violation in the world, with at least one in three women globally estimated to have been coerced into sex, physically beaten, or otherwise abused in her lifetime.

4. 

   Female Future: Turning the tide

   01 August 2011

   Legislation establishing quotas that ensure gender diversity in senior management positions and on boards understandably has many takers, even as some still struggle with the real face of “positive discrimination”.

5. 

   Age discrimination: Older than 50, so what?

   01 August 2011

   Governments increasingly seek to increase the participation of older workers in the labour market, for example by revising retirement age provisions, says the new ILO report on discrimination at work.

6. 

   The economic crisis and discrimination against migrant workers

   01 August 2011

   Migrant workers are subject to increased discrimination during economic downturns. An effective policy response depends on social dialogue in which competing interests are acknowledged. Gary Humphreys reports.

7. 

   Racial discrimination and the global economic downturn

   01 August 2011

   Racial discrimination in the world of work is on the increase in the aftermath of the global economic downturn, posing tough questions about policies that have been pursued over the past decade. Gary Humphreys reports.