Impact and people

2009

  1. Stemming the crisis: World leaders forge “Global Jobs Pact”

    01 August 2009

    Faced with the prospect of a prolonged global increase in unemployment, poverty and inequality and continued duress for enterprises, in June 2009 the ILO adopted a historic Global Jobs Pact designed to guide national and international policies aimed at stimulating economic recovery, generating jobs and providing protection to working people and their families.

  2. Book Review:Building decent societies: Rethinking the role of social security in development

    31 July 2009

    The establishment of universal social security systems has been one of the cornerstones of OECD countries' successful economic and social development and has contributed to reducing poverty and fostering social inclusion in today's rich countries. It is increasingly recognized that universal social security systems have an enormous potential for low income countries which has not yet been sufficiently explored.

  3. Child trafficking: Training tools for ILO constituents

    29 July 2009

    Around one million children are trafficked worldwide today, and there is growing concern that the global economic crisis may further increase child vulnerability to trafficking. The ILO has been leading the fight against child trafficking, and is now taking the struggle to those best placed to help stop it through a new training package. ILO On-line talked to Hans van de Glind, Senior specialist and focal point for child trafficking of the ILO International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour.

  4. In Zambia, a commitment to inclusive approaches for people with disabilities

    09 July 2009

    An estimated 7 to 9 per cent of women and men in Zambia live with a disability, most of them in poverty. ILO Online reports from the country’s capital Lusaka where Disability Equality Training (DET) is part of a new effort to make sure that the needs of people with disabilities are taken into account in development programmes.

  5. Migrant workers’ cooperatives as a crisis response

    03 July 2009

    This year the theme of the International Day of Cooperatives focuses on the opportunities for co-operatives to effectively contribute to global economic recovery in times of crisis. In Indonesia, thousands of migrant workers, victims of the unfolding economic and social crisis, are returning home. Setting-up a cooperative is one option for these returning migrants, as this report by Gita F. Lingga, ILO Communication Officer in Jakarta, shows.

  6. The Economic Crisis in Asia: It’s about real people, real jobs

    26 June 2009

    When the financial crisis predictably turned into a jobs crisis, the Asia-Pacific region found itself facing mass unemployment. As many as 100 million people in Asia could be unemployed this year, according to ILO estimates. Allan Dow, ILO press officer, reports from Thailand.

  7. Decent Work for domestic workers: a long way to go.

    17 June 2009

    The ILO and other women’s advocacy groups consider domestic work to be among the most precarious of occupations. The present economic downturn and jobs crisis sweeping the world is likely to aggravate those vulnerabilities depicted in a report to the 2009 International Labour Conference taking stock of gender equality in the world of work. ILO press officer Allan Dow reports from Bangkok.

  8. Taking the crisis as an opportunity: How the garment industry in Kyrgyzstan faces a 40 per cent decline in exports

    16 June 2009

    After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the country’s transition to a market economy, the Kyrgyz garment industry was one of the first to recover. Today, it is the first sector that has been severely hit by the global economic and social crisis.

  9. Migrant working girls, victims of the global crisis

    10 June 2009

    More than 100 million girls are involved in child labour worldwide, according to a new ILO report for World Day against Child Labour 2009. The report warns that the global financial crisis could push an increasing number of children, particularly girls, into child labour. ILO Online reports from Moscow where migrant workers and their children are the first to be hit by the crisis.

  10. Girls in gold-mining: “I don’t want my children to be like me”

    10 June 2009

    Over 18,000 girls and boys are engaged in mining and quarrying in the Philippines. For many generations, the search for gold in small-scale mining has been a means of survival for poor families. Girls in such work are particularly vulnerable. Minette Rimando, ILO press officer in Manila, wrote this report for ILO Online.