Videos

  1. ILO sees 60 per cent drop in earnings of informal workers due to pandemic | ANC

    27 June 2020

    The International Labour Organization (ILO) says informal workers are bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on the global economy. This as the supply chain gets disrupted from both the demand and the supply side. ILO enterprise specialist Fredy Guayacan notes that as much as 73 per cent of the global informal economy has been heavily impacted by the crisis. He adds that while many sectors have been able to move their operations online, businesses that cannot digitize are heavily impacted.

  2. Yalitza Aparicio: Protect domestic workers with labour laws, emergency measures

    16 June 2020

    Oscar-nominated actor, Yalitza Aparicio talks about how the COVID19 pandemic has exposed the fragility of domestic workers. These workers continue to lack access to social protection systems, emergency health measures and endure poor working conditions. During this crisis, they are risking contagion as well as losing their livelihoods.

  3. The impact of COVID-19 on the informal economy

    08 May 2020

    Almost 1.6 billion informal economy workers are significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a 60 per cent decline in their earnings. For those workers, stopping work or working remotely at home is not an option. Staying home means losing their jobs and, for many, it also means losing their livelihoods.

  4. COVID-19 and the informal economy in Africa

    07 May 2020

    The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect in Africa, particularly in the informal economy where 325 million workers make their living. Lockdown measures have significantly impacted their lives, along with the many informal enterprises that are at risk of closure.

  5. Youth hit hard by COVID-19’s economic fallout

    17 April 2020

    Crises fall hardest on the most vulnerable. When it comes to the social and economic impacts of the pandemic, young people are more likely to feel the pinch harder.

  6. Mobile theatre promotes formal employment in Tajikistan

    06 June 2018

    In the three years since the International Labour Conference adopted Recommendation 204 on the transition from the informal to the formal economy, a global campaign to address the informal economy has gathered momentum. One of the best practices has emerged in the Central Asian Republic of Tajikistan, in an unlikely place. It's a traveling theatre stage, featuring some of the country's top stars, committed to raising awareness about the informal economy and rights at work.

  7. Video: What future for decent work in Europe and Central Asia

    02 October 2017

    From a Russian retiree supplementing his pension as a freelance taxi driver, to a Greek handball player re-trained as an office clerk in Germany and a new mother working from home in the UK, here are some of the experiences of people making their way through the world of work in Europe and Central Asia.

  8. How small tourism businesses in Nepal are turning more professional

    27 September 2017

    The disastrous 2015 earthquake seriously damaged Nepal’s tourist industry. Now that the tourists are starting to return, they’re discovering something new about the way Nepalese businesses are welcoming visitors.

  9. Regulating informal sectors key to ending child labour: ILO | ANC

    19 June 2017

    The key to ending child labour in the Philippines may depend on supporting and regulating informal sectors, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said. CARING Gold Project Coordinator Cesar Giovanni Soledad cited that child labour remains an issue in the country because most of young workers are in informal sectors, such as small-scale mining.

  10. Decent work key to ending poverty

    18 May 2016

    To help close the poverty gap, quality jobs along with social protection must play a central role. ILO economists Steven Tobin and Veda Narasimhan discuss this year’s ILO World Employment and Social Outlook report “Transforming jobs to end poverty".

  11. WESO 2016: Our World Today

    20 January 2016

    The weak growth of 2015, coupled with slowdowns in major economies, spells trouble for the world of work in over the next few years. ILO researchers Veronica Escudero and Sameer Khatiwada lay out the challenges world economies will face by 2017. (Closed Captions available)

  12. WESO 2016: Our World Tomorrow

    20 January 2016

    The world of work faces significant challenges in the coming decade, with technological shifts, population aging and struggling economies changing the way we work. ILO researchers Sameer Khatiwada and Veronica Escudero lay out the future trends of 2016 and beyond. (Closed Captions available)

  13. Making water work for all

    24 August 2015

    Professor Jayati Ghosh of Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, explains how recognizing and formalizing work in water benefits workers and improves economic growth.

  14. Mexico: From informal to formal employment

    12 June 2014

    It's estimated that at least 130 million people in Latin America are working "informally" - without job security, social protection, health insurance or a contract that spells out their working conditions, hours and wages. With informal economy as one of the topics of discussion at the 103rd International Labour Conference, ILO TV reports from one of Mexico's prime tourist destinations, where things are beginning to change.

  15. Migrant workers: Hidden victims of the economic crisis

    19 July 2012

    Migrant workers are the hidden victims of the economic crisis, especially in the Eurozone. Thousands have lost jobs in construction and other sectors that were heavily dependent on them in boom times. Now unable to send enough money back home,growing numbers rely on the informal economy to get by, according to Steven Tobin, Senior Economist at the International Institute for Labour Studies.

  16. Working Together to Boost Youth Employment in Serbia

    31 December 2010

    Serbia was hit hard by the global economic crisis, particularly its young people, who are living a “crisis within the crisis”. Often what they learned in school doesn’t match what employers are looking for, making it hard for them to find work. It’s worse for young people who didn’t do well in school, or dropped out. But in Serbia, the government, trade unions and employers, working together, have designed new policy interventions to give young people, especially those with low levels of education, a chance to find a decent job and keep it.

  17. Protecting Domestic Workers: An Interview with Creuza Oliveira (in Portuguese)

    08 July 2010

    ILO TV interviews Creuza Oliveira, President of the Brazilian National Federation of Domestic Workers about the need to protect the working rights of domestic workers globally and in Brazil. Delegates will vote on a new international labour standard for domestic workers at the 100th International Labour Conference in June 2011.

  18. On the Horizon: An International Labour Standard for Domestic Workers

    18 June 2010

    The June 2010 session of the International Labour Conference held a first discussion on a new international labour standard for domestic workers. ILO TV interviews Manuela Tomei, Director of the ILO's Conditions of Work and Employment Programme about the need to protect the working rights of domestic workers. Delegates will vote on this new labour standard at the 100th International Labour Conference in June 2011.

  19. ILO and WTO Launch Joint Study on Globalization and Informal jobs in Developing Countries

    12 October 2009

    A joint study from the International Labour Organization and the WTO has found that high incidence of informal employment in the developing world curbs countries ability to benefit from trade openings. ILO Director General, Juan Somavia, and WTO Director General, Pascal Lamy, opened a meeting in Geneva to launch the study.

  20. Out of Informality – Ghana’s Way to Decent Work

    02 April 2008

    In Ghana, local authorities are teaming up with informal workers to find solutions for reducing poverty and bringing decent work opportunities to their communities. It’s a new initiative that has been so successful in the two areas where it’s been trialed, that it’s going to be rolled out across Ghana in the months to come. ILO TV reports.