Since the ILO was founded in 1919, international labour standards have been established to provide maternity protection for women workers. The basic elements of maternity protection reflect the concern to ensure the health and rights of pregnant or nursing workers and their children. These elements include:

• protection of the health of pregnant and breastfeeding women and their children from workplace risks;
• the right to maternity leave;
• the right to cash benefits to ensure she can support herself and her child during leave;
• the right to medical care;
• protection from dismissal and discrimination; and
• the right to facilities to continue breastfeeding on return to work.
  

The most recent international standards on maternity protection are the Convention on Maternity Protection (No.183) and the accompanying Recommendation on Maternity Protection (No. 191),which were adopted at the International Labour Conference in June 2000.

The Conditions of Work and Employment Programme is working in partnership with its tripartite partners and other concerned groups and organizations to:

• promote implementation and ratification of Convention No. 183;
• strengthen maternity protection around the world; and
• promote policies to ensure that women can combine maternity with work and maintain equal opportunities with men in access to employment and the development of their careers.

Further information on the international standards concerning maternity protection can be found under the link "standards" and in our Information Sheet series (Information Sheet No. 4 on Maternity protection). With the aim of promoting the extension of maternity protection to women in the informal economy, TRAVAIL has produced jointly with the STEP programme an overview of community-based health-financing schemes and studies of initiatives in India and Nepal.