All ILO Voices stories
ILO Voices | Inclusion in the world of work
My HIV status won't prevent me from achieving my career goals
Reena Mistry, 23, aspires to join the Indian civil services. She also works as a volunteer with youth and lives with HIV. She became financially independent by training as a seamstress through a project implemented by the ILO in collaboration with...
ILO Voices | Violence and harassment at work
I empower migrant domestic workers by sharing my experiences
As a migrant domestic worker, Win Faidah was abused by her employers. Now she works to raise awareness so that other Indonesian women have the knowledge to protect themselves from exploitation and violence in the workplace.
ILO Voices | Child labour
Better working conditions help us to fight child labour
Yabao Oumarou, a cocoa farmer in Côte d'Ivoire, was accustomed to fatigue and illness from his tough working conditions. Through training, he discovered there is a link between improved safety and health at work, and reducing child labour.
ILO Voices | Discrimination
Having an income reduces HIV stigma and discrimination
Sixty-year old Regina Katungu Chileshe is an entrepreneur living with HIV in Zambia. She is a member of an HIV support group that works to overcome stigma in the community, thanks to an income generation project supported by the International Labour...
ILO Voices | Crisis response
My work with earthquake survivors in Türkiye gives me purpose
When multiple earthquakes struck Türkiye and Syria on 6 February 2023, Jin Dawod set to work matching survivors with therapists through her platform Peace Therapist. A Syrian refugee living in Türkiye, she knows first-hand how critical psycho-social...
ILO Voices | Entrepreneurship
How entrepreneurship helps me stay resilient in Ukraine
Alla Zhuravel runs her husband’s business in Ukraine while he serves with the armed forces. She also teaches entrepreneurship skills to Ukrainians whose livelihoods have been affected by the ongoing conflict. It’s rewarding work and it helps to...
ILO Voices | Disability inclusion
Together we can make disability inclusion happen
Güler Koca is a diversity and inclusion expert. She speaks five languages, runs marathons and has learnt to fly a plane. Koca also has a visual impairment. She shares the story of her path towards job success.
ILO Voices | Disability inclusion
Work gives me my independence
Rafael Martirosyan has Down syndrome. He says his volunteer work and job at his family’s bakery business in Armenia give his life meaning. Rafael’s dream is to open a café that welcomes people with disabilities.
ILO Voices | Informal economy
Formalization is transforming my shea butter business
Zakaria Adama Lacera shares the challenges and rewards of formalizing her shea butter production and soap business in Ghana.
ILO Voices | Social protection
Rights migrate too
In search of a better future, Ditraiza Ramírez migrated with her family from Venezuela to Colombia. Having made a new life in a new country, she wanted to help others like her and now spends her spare time raising awareness about migrants’ rights to...
ILO Voices | Entrepreneurship
Sweet success for a honey trailblazer in Côte d’Ivoire
When crisis hit Côte d’Ivoire, Cissé Marbré’s education hopes were dashed. Undeterred she persevered, and with the help of ILO business training is now a prize-winning entrepreneur producing honey sold across the country’s supermarkets.
ILO Voices | Modern slavery
They were taking nearly everything I earned, I lived in fear
Modern slavery affects 28 million people worldwide. Behind these statistics are millions of harrowing human stories. Jonas was deceived, trafficked to the UK and pushed to the brink.
ILO Voices | Labour migration
A job changed my life as a refugee
War in Syria forced Syrian Abdel Halim al Qasir and his family to flee to the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan. Becoming a facilitator for the ILO’s Job Search Club project and helping other refugees inside the camp find new careers and job...
ILO Voices | Child labour
I was a child labourer, now I work to prevent it
Daniel Berruezo knows first-hand what child labour is. He worked from the age of seven in Argentina’s tobacco sector in the province of Salta. Now he is part of a regional effort to eliminate child labour through his work at Salta’s Ministry of...
ILO Voices | Just transition
A just transition to a new, greener life
Cristina Carro lost her job as a quarry truck driver when the coal mines in Spain shut down as part of the government's commitment to fight climate change. A government-led “just transition” project helped Cristina find a new job, restoring a...
ILO Voices | Social and solidarity economy
We lost our precious forest but found a way to survive
Mining and deforestation have destroyed the Orang Asli indigenous peoples’ way of life in Peninsular Malaysia. Maimun is helping to restore her people’s connection to the land through a community organic vegetable farm that is giving them a...
ILO Voices | Diversity and inclusion
I help transgender women claim their rights
Echi is a transgender woman and activist from Indonesia who has faced discrimination and stigmatization for much of her life. She has helped 75 transgender women obtain national identity cards so they can access social protection, including health...
ILO Voices | Occupational Safety and Health
As a sewer worker, I want respect and safer working conditions
Cleaning sewers is dangerous, hazardous work that can be lethal. Shafique Massih is a sewer worker in Lahore, Pakistan, calling for safer working conditions and greater respect for sanitation workers.
ILO Voices | Occupational Safety and Health
After Rana Plaza, I help prevent other tragedies from happening
Ten years ago, Mohamed Abdur Rob was part of a team of firefighters who rescued garment workers trapped in the rubble of Rana Plaza after the building collapsed. Over 1100 people died. His experience motivated him to become a fire safety officer in...
ILO Voices | Indigenous rights
Indigenous people in cities have rights too
Olinda Silvano is an artist and leader in a Shipibo-Konibo indigenous community in Peru’s capital city, Lima. She is determined to overcome the challenges she and her people face, including discrimination, lack of social protection and housing.