News and articles on domestic work

  1. ILO in action

    We help migrant domestic workers overcome the pandemic

    15 December 2021

    ILO Senior Labour Migration Specialist, Gloria Moreno-Fontes, speaks from Pretoria about the Southern Africa Migration Management (SAMM) Project, which aims to improve migration management in the Southern Africa and Indian Ocean region. The project is funded by the European Commission and implemented by the ILO in collaboration with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

  2. © Sofia Trevino/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 2022

    The Future of Work Podcast

    Making domestic work decent work in South Africa

    02 July 2021

    In the ten years since it was adopted, ILO Convention No. 189 has become an important tool for giving domestic workers greater legal protection. However, for most domestic workers in the world, these legal rights have not yet let to practical changes. South African domestic worker Florence Sosiba shares her experience representing the rights of domestic workers in her country.

  3. International Domestic Workers’ Day

    'I dared to ask'

    16 June 2015

    One woman’s courage led to greater protection for domestic workers in South Africa. Her struggle illustrates the challenges faced by all vulnerable workers.

  4. News

    Workers Organizations from Zimbabwe, Lesotho and South Africa signed a Declaration Promoting Labour and Human Rights of Migrant Domestic Workers

    11 October 2014

    Trade unions and domestic workers’ organizations from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Lesotho signed a joint declaration at the tri-national workshop in Johannesburg organized by the EU funded Global Action Programme on Migrant Domestic Workers and Their Families (GAP-MDW). By signing the declaration, participants committed to support the strategies promoting human and labour rights of migrant domestic workers along the South Africa, Lesotho and Zimbabwe corridor.

  5. News

    Declaration of the African Regional Domestic Workers Conference

    02 July 2013

    The Africa Domestic Workers Network (AfDWN) was launched at the African Regional Domestic Workers Conference held on 15-16 June 2013, at Community House in Cape Town. June 16th 2013, marked the second anniversary of the adoption of the ILO Convention 189 for Domestic Workers. The 16th June has also been declared the International Domestic Workers' Day.

  6. Labour standards

    South Africa ratifies four international labour Conventions

    21 June 2013

    The Government of the Republic of South Africa deposited with the International Labour Office the instrument of ratification of four international labour Conventions, the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No.81), the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006), the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (No. 188), and the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189).