June 2007

• Eleven CIS countries adopt international occupational safety and health standards.
  28 June 2007. “First and foremost, we need to challenge the assumption that unsafe work is the inevitable price to pay for economic progress. Second, we have to make it known that the conditions that make work hazardous are often the same ones that provide an obstacle to productivity”, said Elaine Fultz, ILO Subregional Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia. She spoke at the International Conference on Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Status in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and on the implementation of a new standard called GOST 12.0.230-2007 (Moscow, 27-28 June 2007).
• ILO Executive Director arrives in Minsk.
  20 June 2007. On June 20, ILO Executive Director Kari Tapiola arrived in Belarussian capital for a three-day visit. He is accompanied by Ms. Karen Curtis, Deputy Director of the Standards Department, and Ms. Oksana Wolfson, legal officer of the same department.
  Belarus invited Kari Tapiola to discuss a draft law on trade unions and take part in a meeting of the council for upgrading labour legislation under the Belarussian Labour and Social Protection Ministry due on June 21.
  By information of the Belarussian News agency
• Issyk-Kul seminar focuses on gender equality and youth employment
  19 June 2007. Gender equality, employment and youth problems were high on the agenda of the national workshop held in Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan, on June 19-21. The workshop was organized within the framework of the ILO/Netherlands project on boosting youth employment.
• 96th International Labour Conference. Conference concludes with adoption of new standards on fishing sector, approaches to sustainable development and measures to promote decent work.
  15 June 2007. The 96th annual conference of the International Labour Organization (ILO) concluded its 15-day run here today after adopting a comprehensive new set of labour standards for the fishing industry and holding extensive discussions on new approaches to promoting sustainable enterprises and decent work. The International Labour Conference, the annual gathering of more than 3,000 delegates representing governments, and workers and employers from the ILO’s 180 member States, also launched a new partnership aimed at eliminating child labour in agriculture and considered a number of issues regarding adherence to international labour standards.
• Decent Work Programme for Tajikistan signed.
  14 June 2007. The Tajik tripartite delegation to the annual Conference of International Labour Organization and ILO Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia Friedrich Buttler today signed a Programme of Cooperation on Decent Work between Tajikistan and the ILO for the years 2007-2009.
• ILO adopts comprehensive new labour standards for millions in the world’s fishing sector .
  14 June 2007. Innovative new labour standards designed to improve the conditions for roughly 30 million men and women working in the fishing sector worldwide were adopted today at the 96th annual conference of the International Labour Organization (ILO).
  “Fishing is a unique way of life”, said Captain Nigel Campbell (South Africa), Chairperson of the Conference Committee that prepared the final version of the Convention. “This new Convention reflects not only this uniqueness but the demands of globalization in an ever expanding sector that exposes men and women to considerable hardships and danger.”
• World Day against Child Labour 2007. New Global Partnership Against Child Labour in Agriculture.
  12 June 2007. The International Labour Organization (ILO) today joined forces with five key international agricultural organizations to launch a new landmark global partnership to tackle child labour in agriculture.
  Members of the new partnership signed into existence during the ILO’s annual International Labour Conference are: the ILO, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP) and International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF).
• ILO Director-General calls for “Green Jobs Initiative” to support environmentally sustainable development - Also highlights impact of globalization and need to reduce “Decent Work” deficits.
  11 June 2007. International Labour Organization Director-General Juan Somavia today urged government, worker and employer delegates at the ILO’s annual labour conference to develop policy tools for a global “Green Jobs Initiative” aimed at achieving an environmentally-sustainable process of development.
  In an address also highlighting a wide range of issues, from the impact of globalization to reducing “decent work deficits”, Mr. Somavia said the Organization was “moving forward” through its Decent Work Agenda, which had been endorsed by the United Nations and other international and regional bodies, including the G-8 Summit in Germany last week.
• Working Time Around the World. One in five workers worldwide are putting in “excessive” hours. New ILO study spotlights working time in over 50 countries.
  7 June 2007. Nearly a century after adopting its first international standard on working time, a new study by the International Labour Office estimates that one in five workers around the world – or over 600 million persons – are still working more than 48 hours a week, often merely to make ends meet.
  The new study, Working Time Around the World: Trends in working hours, laws and policies in a global comparative perspective says an estimated 22 per cent of the global workforce, or 614.2 million workers, are working “excessively” long hours.
  Full text of the Report (PDF, 877 Kb)
• New Director of the ILO Subregional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
  1 June 2007. On 1 June, 2007 Ms. Elaine Fultz assumed her duties as a Director of the ILO Subregional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
  Ms. Fultz is a U.S. citizen from western North Carolina.
  She joined the ILO in 1995 as social security specialist for southern Africa and was first stationed in Harare, Zimbabwe. For the last eight years, Ms. Fultz has worked in Budapest as the ILO’s senior specialist in social security for Central and Eastern Europe. Working with economists and sociologists she has developed demographic and fiscal forecasts, charted future pension adequacy and gauged the impact of current policy options on future levels of poverty and income inequality.
  Before joining the ILO Ms. Fultz worked for 14 years in the U.S. Congress, in the House of Representatives, first as chief legislative assistant to a member of Congress from Detroit, and subsequently, as a member of the professional staff of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security.
  In 1995, Ms. Fultz was appointed executive director of the National Commission on Childhood Disability created by the U.S. Congress.
  She has a PhD in public administration from New York University and holds the New York University Award for Distinguished Public Service.
  Ms. Fultz is the author or editor of more than 20 publications on social policy reform in societies engaged in political and economic transformation.
  She is married with one son.