2006

1. A "vector" of hope for street children in St. Petersburg

   28 July 2006

   Some groups of child labourers, including street children, are particularly difficult to reach. The ILO's International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) project in St. Petersburg, where 16,000 children work in the streets, seeks to rehabilitate these children and show the way to other regions in the Russian Federation.

2. Russia needs migrant workers to support economic growth

   20 July 2006

   Since the early 1990s, the Russian Federation has been the biggest receiving, sending and transit country for migrant workers in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The country will need between 800,000 and 1.5 million migrant workers each year to compensate for its shrinking labour force and maintain economic growth. Poorer countries in the neighbourhood could solve the problem by sending their excess labour to Russia if the government adapts regulations and working conditions for migrants to the new situation..

3. Safer work in agriculture in Viet Nam

   13 July 2006

   The agricultural sector in Viet Nam which employs 58 per cent of the country's total workforce is also one of the most dangerous, and farmers are exposed to many accidents and work-related diseases each year. The Viet Nam Chapter of the ILO/Japan Regional Programme for Capacity Building of Occupational Safety and Heath (OSH) in Agriculture was launched in May 2004 and helps the Government formulate a national programme on occupational safety and health and assist farmers improve their living and working conditions. Nguyen Van Theu, National Project Coordinator of the ILO, reports from Viet Nam.

4. From stitching to playing: Sialkot ten years after

   07 July 2006

   As the final match of the FIFA World Cup 2006 captures worldwide attention, the final match against child labour is still to be played - even though the ILO's recent global report on child labour sees its end "within reach". Last month, the ILO's International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) and FIFA kicked off an innovative football module in Sialkot, Pakistan, as part of rehabilitation efforts for former child labourers and children still to be removed from work.

5. Tackling the "decent work deficit"

   06 July 2006

   Government leaders, heads of international agencies and senior experts in economic and employment issues meet here on 3-5 July to highlight proposals for cutting poverty and providing new hope to the world's working poor. The meeting of the UN's Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) will focus on promoting decent work as the sustainable route out of poverty.

6. Decent Work FAQ: Making decent work a global goal

   06 July 2006

   The ILO's Decent Work Agenda calls for a development strategy that acknowledges the central role of work in people's live. The theme of this year's High-Level Segment of the United Nations' Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) reflects an international consensus that productive employment and decent work are key elements to reducing poverty. Here are some FAQs on decent work by ILO Online.

7. Decent work: How country programmes help forge a path out of poverty

   06 July 2006

   New pilot programmes are the leading edge of the ILO's efforts to implement its decent work agenda at the country level. Decent Work Pilot Programmes are founded on the ILO's four strategic objectives--employment promotion, rights at work, social protection and social dialogue - integrating economic and social objectives. In Ghana, a pilot Decent Work Country Programme has shown how people can put decent work into practice, and fight poverty in the bargain.

8. International Day of Cooperatives (1 July 2006) Standing on their own: Cooperative reform in Tanzania

   29 June 2006

   Tanzania's cooperative reform programme reflects a wider process of reform internationally as cooperatives recreate themselves through member empowerment and increased commercial viability. The ILO's Promotion of Cooperatives Recommendation No. 193, agreed in 2002, provides the global framework for this reform. British journalist Andrew Bibby reports from Tanzania where cooperatives, which date back to the early 1930s, are adopting a new approach to sustainability.

9. 95th session of the International Labour Conference, 2006
   Combining labour market flexibility and security in the West Balkans

   16 June 2006

   With Montenegro's recent decision to separate from Serbia, the break-up of the former Yugoslavia has probably come to an end. After years of steep economic decline, political turmoil and armed conflict in the West Balkan countries, growth rates picked up in the second half of the 1990s although this economic dynamism did not translate into lower unemployment levels.

10. Final whistle to human trafficking and sexual exploitation

    15 June 2006

    As the football World Cup 2006 gets underway, a German NGO has launched a campaign against human trafficking for labour and sexual exploitation. According to German police sources, fears that the number of women trafficked for sex work during the games might go into the tens of thousands have failed to materialize.