Feature stories

2013

1. 

   "No" to child labour in domestic work

   31 May 2013

   The 2013 World Day against Child Labour (marked on June 12) is focusing on child labour in domestic work. Millions of children globally work as domestic labourers, mostly girls under 18. They are deprived of education, and endure harsh working conditions that leave them vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. However, an innovative ILO project in Indonesia aims to bring about a lasting end to this abuse.

2. 

   Creating sustainable livelihoods while saving a precious eco-system

   29 May 2013

   The ILO is working with local communities on the Indonesian island of Borneo on a green jobs programme that is helping to rehabilitate a partly-destroyed peat swamp forest.

3. Keeping SCORE with Better Work Indonesia; how one factory improved its production

   24 May 2013

   Partnering with SCORE, Better Work Indonesia is able to offer companies tried and tested training methods to improve workplace conditions.

2012

1. Going International through ILO-SCORE Programme

   17 October 2012

   PT Mubarokfood Cipta Delicia in Kudus, Central Java, is one of the pilot enterprises of the ILO-SCORE programmes. After joining the ILO-SCORE programme in 2011, the company has witnessed increased productivity, better working conditions and improved communication between management and workers. Mubarokfood also managed to reduce the number of reworked and rejected products.

2. Angela Friska: I am no longer ashamed of my disability

   15 October 2012

   Angela Friska is a disabled person working as a consultant whose specific assignment is to manage the program for disabled people in ILO-Better Work Indonesia. She has grown up with a hearing impairment, but her condition has not caused her to withdraw from her surroundings. To the contrary, her disability has encouraged her to relentlessly fight for the rights of disabled people to enjoy equal opportunities in employment.

3. Lilis Suryani: “I want to share my knowledge and skills with my communities”

   20 September 2012

   The aftermath of the tsunami which hit the Mentawai Islands in 2010 had significant impact on local communities of Mentawai, including Lilis Suryani and her family. It became very difficult to attain a decent income as the residents from her village had relocated to higher ground, leaving their previous jobs in Bulasat village and resulting in a profit decrease. By Gita Lingga, the ILO's Communications Officer for Indonesia and Timor-Leste

4. Investing in quality ‘second chance’ education

   12 July 2012

   An opinion-editorial by Dede Sudono, Project Officer of Child Labor and Education Programme, and Tauvik Muhamad, Programme Officer, ILO-Jakarta, focusing on the importance of 'second chance' education for Indonesian children in order to increase their employability and access to the future globalized labour market. The opinion article was published by the Jakarta Post on 12 July.

5. 

   Turning waste fruit into a profitable business

   05 July 2012

   Cooperatives have played an important role in Indonesia by helping to boost growth, reduce poverty and promote social cohesion. As the world celebrates the UN International Day of Cooperatives, Gita Lingga reports on a successful project involving rural women in the Maluku islands.

6. ‘Decent work’ in Indonesia: What do the indicators say?

   04 June 2012

   An opinion-editorial by Peter van Rooij, Country Director of the ILO in Indonesia, highlighting decent work indicators of Indonesia ranging from the labor force participation rates of men and women, social protection, progress made in reducing child labour, to the hours people work and the wages they receive. The opinion article was published by the Jakarta Post on 4 June.

7. May Day rally as part of labour union’s strategic action

   01 May 2012

   An opinion-editorial by Tauvik Muhamad, Programme Officer, ILO-Jakarta, focusing on the Indonesian labour movement and the urgency for the unions to come up with more strategic thinking and sustainable means of influencing the policy-making process. The opinion article was published by the Jakarta Post on 1 May.

8. Fuel-price policy and social protection floor in Indonesia

   14 April 2012

   An opinion-editorial by Tauvik Muhamad, Programme Officer, ILO-Jakarta, capturing the important linkages between the fuel-price policy and the implementation of the social protection floor in Indonesia. The opinion article was published by the Jakarta Post on 14 April.

9. The dispute over minimum wages in Indonesia: Who's to decide how much is enough?

   26 March 2012

   An opinion-editorial by Tauvik Muhamad, Programme Officer, ILO-Jakarta, raising key questions regarding minimum wage mechanisms and fixing-systems. The opinion article was published by the Jakarta Globe on 26 March.

10. 

    Campaign for domestic workers’ rights gathers pace

    29 February 2012

    The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day, 8 March, is “Empower Rural Women, End Poverty and Hunger”. One path that many rural women take to escape poverty is to become a domestic worker in a big city household or overseas. Yet when they do, many find themselves exploited, with little or no legal protection to guarantee basic rights to pay, rest and freedom from abuse. However following the adoption of the ILO Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189), the campaign to ensure domestic workers’ rights are respected is gaining momentum. By Lotte Kejser, Chief Technical Advisor, ILO Country Office for Indonesia and Timor Leste

2011

1. The story of Munti: Tortured to death in Malaysia

   15 September 2011

   Suparmo, 47 years old, still cannot forget his wife’s condition. Her teeth were broken. Her backbone was fractured. She had bruises and stab wounds on her face and body. His wife’s name was Munti. She was only 36 years old and was in a coma. “I couldn’t believe that she could still be alive with all those severe injuries,” Suparmo recalled. “She had been severely tortured by her employers.”

2. The story of Umi Saodah: Tortured and trapped in war-torn Palestine

   15 September 2011

   “I’m still angry and cannot forget what they have done to me,” Umi Saodah, a 34-year-old, recalled. It’s still crystal clear in her mind how four family members of her employer tortured her two years ago. “They showed no mercy. If they were living here in Indonesia, I would retaliate,” she said.

3. The story of Halimah: A father’s persisting regrets

   15 September 2011

   Kohar, 49 years old and a resident of Cianjur, West Java, has five children: four daughters and a son. His wife died in 1999 and his two eldest daughters have worked in Saudi Arabia. When his third daughter, Halimah, 27 years of age, asked his permission to follow in her sisters’ footsteps working in Saudi Arabia as a migrant domestic worker, he could not say no.

4. The story of Elli Anita: Resilience in the face of adversity

   15 September 2011

   Elli Anita is the third daughter of a family who joined the government-sponsored resettlement program from Jember in East Java to Bandar Lampung, Sumatra, when she was 18 years old. She holds an elementary school level leaving certificate and was expected to work on the family farm. However, after listening to the stories of fellow villagers, she was keen to work overseas as a domestic worker and see other countries.

5. The story of Siti Tarwiyah: Beaten to death in Saudi Arabia; blood money is all that remains of a mother’s love

   15 September 2011

   “I’m still so traumatized. I can not forget my late wife. Her body was covered in wounds as a result of regular caning,” recalled Hamid, the husband of Siti Tarwiyah who died in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, three years ago. Her body was bruised everywhere because members of the employers family used to smash her up against walls. She was only 32 years old when she died.

6. The story of Ceriyati: Escaping abuse in Malaysia

   15 September 2011

   Ceriyati Binti Dapin, a 37-year-old mother of a handicapped son, had no other choice but to become a migrant domestic worker in order to supplement the income of her husband Ridwan, who worked as an ojek driver in the Central Java town of Brebes. Despite the long recruitment process and delays in getting employment in Malaysia, she had a strong desire to help her husband cover her son’s regular medical costs.

7. The story of Cassina: Trapped in war-torn Iraq

   15 September 2011

   Like most of her peers in Subang, West Java, Cassina had a strong desire to lift her family out of poverty as it had a debilitating effect on them since her marriage in 1996. Her husband’s daily income as an ojek driver was inadequate to cover their daily needs and pay for their ten year-old son’s monthly school tuition fees. Having heard the success stories about her fellow villagers working in Malaysia and Middle East, she decided she wanted to work in Abu Dhabi.