2005

1. World AIDS Day - Meri Pehchan: preventing HIV/AIDS in India

   30 November 2005

   About 89 per cent of the 4 million people living with HIV/AIDS in India belong to the most productive age group, those between the ages of 15-49 years. The pandemic has become a major threat to the world of work and immediate efforts are needed to protect some 400 million workers in the country from the deadly virus. But AIDS awareness in some parts of India is a problem because talk about sex is taboo and the audience is often illiterate and uneducated. Puppet shows are an effective way to get the message out...

2. World AIDS Day: HIV/AIDS & work in a globalizing world

   30 November 2005

   The theme of World AIDS Day 2005 is "Stop AIDS - keep the promise" - of the international community to control the epidemic and help those affected. As current chair of the UNAIDS Committee of Cosponsoring Organizations, the ILO is marking this day by focusing on workplace action in the community at large and in the UN. Odile Frank, ScD, Senior Research and Policy Adviser and Head, Research and Policy Analysis Unit of the ILO Global Programme on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work recently completed a new study on "HIV/AIDS and work in a globalizing world" and gave this interview to ILO Online.

3. Girls for sale: Preventing trafficking within China

   25 November 2005

   An estimated 94 million Chinese farmers migrated for work in 2002. The influx of such huge numbers of rural surplus labourers has created opportunities for those seeking to exploit the most vulnerable, i.e. children and young women. In April 2004, the Chinese authorities and the ILO International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) started a new project to prevent trafficking in children and youth for labour exploitation. Hans van de Glind, Chief technical advisor of the project, sent ILO online the following report.

4. "Rebuilding a community will take more than bricks and mortar" How the ILO helps Pakistan earthquake survivors to find work and income

   17 November 2005

   One month after the earthquake that killed or injured more than 140,000 people in Pakistan and cost over 1.1 million jobs and livelihoods, the ILO is working hand-in-hand with local authorities to help people in some of the worst-affected areas rebuild their lives. The ILO will participate in a donor conference scheduled in Islamabad on 19 November to discuss the follow-up on recovery and reconstruction. ILO Online reports from the region… - Duration: 5 min. 19 sec. (3.89 MB)

5. Digital tachographs and Optalert: Managing fatigue in road transport

   08 November 2005

   We live in a world where goods and services are expected to be available when and where the customer wants them. While most of the time these expectations are met, they also come at a cost. One of these costs is human fatigue, now recognized as being the main cause of accidents in the transport industry worldwide. Although it cannot always be avoided, fatigue can be better managed, says a new report of the ILO's Sectoral Activities Branch.

6. Managing labour migration: Turkey and the European Union

   04 November 2005

   ANKARA (ILO Online) - Labour migration from Turkey to the member States of the European Union (EU) is one of the main issues in the long-delayed talks between the Turkish government and the EU that started on 3 October. While critics of Turkey's EU bid raise the spectre of unrestricted labour migration from a country of 72 million people, supporters say taking in Turkey, with its young labour force, will boost Europe's economy and offset the effects of its rapidly ageing population. Managing labour migration was also at the centre of a tripartite meeting of experts to be held on 31 October - 2 November at ILO headquarters in Geneva. The meeting reviewed the draft of the ILO Multilateral Framework on Labour Migration, prior to its submission to the ILO Governing Body in March 2006. ILO Online spoke with Gülay Aslantepe, Director of the ILO Office in Ankara, and Patrick Taran from the ILO International Migration Branch.

7. Organizing out of poverty: the role of trade unions

   28 October 2005

   International Day for Poverty Eradication on 17 October also marked the opening, in Geneva, of an International Workers' Symposium on Trade Unions' Role in a Globalized Economy and the Fight Against Poverty. The week-long event, organized by the ILO's Bureau for Workers Activities (ACTRAV), brought together trade unionists from all over the world to assess their action against poverty and discuss how to strengthen it.

8. "Enterprise for Health": making the world of work safer and healthier

   27 October 2005

   Enterprise for Health (EfH) is a European Network under the chair of Professor Dr. Rita Süssmuth, jointly established by the Bertelsmann Foundation and the National Federation of Enterprise Sickness Funds in Germany. EfH was set up in 2000 to promote the exchange of information and experience among enterprises. Despite decreasing numbers of accidents over the years, insufficient protection and neglected health promotion still cost the European industry billions of Euros each year. The German energy and trade giant RWE Rhein-Ruhr, a member of the network, participated in an international conference organized by the ILO on "Fair Globalization - Safe Workplace" in Düsseldorf, 24-26 October.

9. New trade regime in textiles and clothing How Cambodian factories improved their image

   26 October 2005

   With the end of the global textile quota system last year, the textiles and clothing (TC) sector has been experiencing another global revolution. While many observers saw the lifting of restrictions as a potential catastrophe for the domestic textile and clothing industry in a number of countries, the overall picture is more contrasted than expected. This is one of the findings of a new ILO study prepared for a meeting ( Note 1) to be held in Geneva from 24-26 October which will also examine ways to ensure a fair globalization process in the TC sector. ILO Online reports from Cambodia where an ILO project helped the garment industry to deal with the phase-out of the Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA).

10. Socially sensitive enterprise restructuring: swimming together or sinking separately

    12 October 2005

    How can an enterprise restructure with maximum economic benefits and minimum costs to workers and society? It is often believed that downsizing has a positive impact on the performance of the company and the so-called "survivors". According to a new ILO publication, this is not always true in practice. Alternative options should be considered and if downsizing is necessary, it should be carried out in a socially sensitive way.