Resources on maternity protection

  1. Princess Sarah Culberson: Invest in the care economy for a better gender equal world

    11 March 2022

    In celebrating International Women's Week, author, humanitarian and global public speaker, Princess Sarah Culberson of Sierra Leone, joins the ILO to call on countries to invest in the care economy and transformative policies to shape a better future and achieve the SDGs in 2030.

  2. Employees social security: Benefits, returns, right and responsibilities

    09 November 2020

    This video focuses on the benefits offered by social security institutions; advantages of social security for businesses and returns for employers in the shape of productivity of workers and improved company image; it also focuses on the registration process and ease of registration and the rights of workers to registration under Social Security law for Pakistan.

  3. 100 years of maternity protection

    08 November 2019

    100 years ago, the ILO adopted the first-ever international standard on maternity protection. Since then the definition of maternity protection has expanded and its importance has become more widely appreciated. But, despite this progress, many mothers and mothers-to-be still face serious challenges in the workplace.

  4. The ILO since 1919: Recognizing maternity protections rights

    08 March 2019

    Raising children and working has always been a challenge for women. In 1919 the International Labour Organization passed its first ever Convention on maternity protection, ensuring that women had both the right to work and to bring up a family.

  5. 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.

  6. Maternity protection at work: It matters to everyone

    11 May 2018

    Maternity Protection is a fundamental right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is defined in ILO international labour standards. Listen to why maternity protection is everyone’s business.

  7. Social protection is a human right but how many benefit?

    29 November 2017

    The ILO’s World Social Protection Report 2017-19 provides recent data on social protection systems around the world, and monitors progress towards achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. It shows that more efforts are needed to extend coverage in many countries, but achieving universal social protection is possible.

  8. Paid maternity leave rising in the U.S. tech sector

    06 August 2015

    CNN reports on ILO research into paid maternity leave worldwide. Despite extended parental leave becoming the latest benefit that tech companies are using to compete for talented employees, parental leave in the United States still trails other developed countries.

  9. Maternity Protection in Tanzania

    16 June 2010

    Over 80 per cent of women in Tanzania work. They also play an important role fundamental to Tanzania's future: they give birth. Reconciling these different roles is not always easy and women are often faced with an impossible choice between ensuring their families' economic well-being and raising healthy children. The ILO, the Tanzanian government, its trade unions and employers' organizations are working together to help move the country closer towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals of reducing child mortality and improving maternal health.

  10. Protecting Maternity in Cambodia’s Textile Factories

    14 July 2008

    Many women in Cambodia risk losing their jobs when they become pregnant. But most textile factories monitored by the ILO’s Better Factories Cambodia programme now offer maternity protection to their employees. For Ros Kimsreng, she now has the opportunity of keeping a good job and providing for her family’s future.