Articles

September 2003

1. In Nepal, micro-insurance helps the poor cope with health needs

   01 September 2003

   In Nepal, the ILO's "STEP" programme (Strategies and Tools against Social Exclusion and Poverty) is working with local partners to develop health micro-insurance schemes and improve access to health care for workers in the informal economy.

2. For millions of migrants, a new Convention

   01 September 2003

   The UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families entered into force on 1 July 2003. More than 10 years in the making, the new Convention represents a major step in efforts to improve the lives of the world's vast mobile workforce. ILO senior migration specialist Patrick Taran, who instigated the global campaign for ratification, tells World of Work what the Convention does, who it concerns and how it will make a difference in peoples' lives.

3. New ILO study highlights labour trends worldwide: US productivity up, Europe improves ability to create jobs

   01 September 2003

   As US and global productivity accelerate, does this mean the global economic slowdown in jobs creation is over? The new third edition of Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM) ( see note 1), finds that a rise in productivity and employment may be the only way to reduce poverty.

4. ILC91 Annual ILO Conference tackles new social agenda

   01 September 2003

   Fighting poverty, providing seafarers with new identity documents, and a variety of measures aimed at improving the world of work were among the highlights of the 91st International Labour Conference in June. Delegates held an impassioned debate over working conditions, and adopted radical new measures designed to improve workplace security and safety.

5. ILO Recommendation 193 one year after: The revival of the cooperative idea

   01 September 2003

   This June marked the first anniversary of the ILO's initiative to encourage the idea of cooperative business. ILO Recommendation 193, for the Promotion of Cooperatives, was formally adopted last year at the International Labour Conference. In the months since, staff in the ILO COOP team have worked with governments and coop bodies to help translate the Recommendation into practice at the national level. Journalist Andrew Bibby reports on the results of their work.

June 2003

1. In today's world, journalists face greater dangers

   01 June 2003

   Embedded, but not immune: along with today’s faster pace of war and conflict, comes faster news - and sometimes, faster injury and death. Lee Woodyear, a former Human Rights Officer for the International Federation of Journalists and a freelance journalist, examines how bringing today’s news into living rooms and computer screens gets ever more dangerous, and what some organizations are doing about it

2. ILO: Work hazards kill millions, cost billions

   01 June 2003

   Workers, employers and governments are marking the World Day for Safety and Health at Work. In a new report, the ILO says the annual cost to the global economy is a staggering 1.25 thousand billion (trillion). This report outlines the occupational safety and health crisis and explains how it can be dealt with.

3. IT outsourcing goes global

   01 June 2003

   Many information technology jobs have been shifted to lower-cost countries, and may soon migrate onwards to regions offering even cheaper labour. Journalist Andrew Bibby examines how, for the first time, white-collar staff are among those affected by job exports

4. ILO: Workplace discrimination, a picture of hope and concern

   01 June 2003

   A new ILO report on discrimination at work - the most comprehensive to date - says workplace discrimination remains a persistent global problem, with new, more subtle forms emerging. While significant progress in combatting inequalities at the workplace is cause for hope, the report says new forms of discrimination are cause for growing concern.

5. World Day Agaisnt child Labour 2003

   01 June 2003

   Child trafficking is one of the worst forms of child labour. Affecting 1.2 million children worldwide, child trafficking is the movement of children from place to place - through force, coercion or deception - into situations involving their economic and sexual exploitation. It is a crime under international law. Worldwide, the World Day Against Child Labour is bringing new attention to the campaign against child trafficking