April 2006

1. Publication

   The Decent Work Deficit: A new ILO report outlines the latest global employment trends

   01 April 2006

   The ILO's 2006 Global Employment Trends Brief paints a sombre picture not only of growing unemployment and poverty but of a significant lack of decent job opportunities, especially for young people. Despite the robust world economic growth of 2005, the global economy failed to deliver enough new jobs. But the ILO's stance is a strong one, involving a global strategy of communication, education, sound policy enforcement and the promotion of entrepreneurship to encourage the creation of more and better jobs.

2. Publication

   Disabled people in Ethiopia: Making public services work for poor people

   01 April 2006

   Most of Addis Ababa's estimated 3 million population lives in slums and informal settlements. In June 2005 the President of Ethiopia officially opened the first of 30 modern public shower and toilet facilities run by a cooperative of disabled persons in Addis Ababa with the support of the ILO. This innovative proposal by the Ethiopian Federation of Persons with Disabilities (EFPD) to renovate existing sanitary facilities and unlock the economic potential of unemployed people with disabilities won a World Bank Development Marketplace Competition prize in 2003.

March 2006

1. Video

   France: Food at Work

   23 March 2006

   Rising levels of obesity in France and other Western countries, means a less healthy, less productive workforce. But at the Peugeot-Citroen factory in Rennes, France, downsizing the workforce has taken on a very different and healthier meaning. ILO TV explains.

2. Video

   French Woman Boxer

   05 March 2006

   World light welterweight champion Myriam Lamare is passionate that women have a place in boxing and has several championship belts to prove it. As a professional boxer, she has overcome the gender barriers and earned the titles, but in a profession still dominated by men, she is far from a million-dollar baby. ILO TV explains.

February 2006

1. Video

   Indonesian Furniture Industry

   07 February 2006

   For years, environmentalists have worried about the deforestation of jungles in Indonesia that supply precious woods for garden furniture in the West. But along with these natural resources, a centuries-old livelihood is also under threat as ILO TV explains.

2. 

   Article

   Maritime Session of the International Labour Conference (7-23 February 2006): A new standard for the global shipping industry

   02 February 2006

   Nearly 1.2 million seafarers work for the world's shipping industry. The ILO now heads for a new Maritime Labour Convention reflecting the needs of a globalized shipping industry. If adopted, the standard will consolidate and update more than 65 international labour standards adopted over the last 80 years. ILO Online spoke with Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, Director of the ILO's International Labour Standards Department, about the new Convention.

3. Publication

   How biometrics helps the seafarer and world trade

   01 February 2006

   This article first appeared in the February 2006 issue of ISO Focus - the Magazine of the International Organization for Standardization, Vol. 3, No. 2, 2006 and is reproduced here with the permission of the ISO Central Secretariat.

January 2006

1. Article

   Environmentally sustainable development: the WILL is there

   30 January 2006

   NAIROBI (ILO Online) - The Workers Initiative for a Lasting Legacy (WILL 2006), organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in cooperation with the ILO, SustainLabour and the UN Global Compact, held here the first ever trade union assembly on labour and the environment last week. ILO Online spoke with Lene Olsen from the ILO Bureau for Workers' Activities who participated in the assembly.

2. Article

   Maritime Session of the International Labour Conference (7-23 February 2006): The global seafarer: mixed fortunes mirror global trends

   29 January 2006

   Nearly 1.2 million seafarers work for the world's shipping industry. Aboard the world's cruise ships, crews often represent 20 nationalities or more. While the current shipbuilding boom has created strong demand for officers worldwide, the trend towards increasingly automated vessels also reduces the need for ratings. The ILO now heads for a new Maritime Labour Convention reflecting the needs of a globalized shipping industry. If adopted, the standard will consolidate and update more than 65 international labour standards adopted since the 1920s. Journalist Ian Gill reports from the Philippines.

3. Article

   Which is best for the economy: employment stability or employment flexibility?

   20 January 2006

   A recent article in the ILO's International Labour Review analyzes the relationship between employment stability and productivity in six major sectors in 13 European countries. According to the authors, both, extensive and short job tenure can produce adverse affects on productivity. They propose a policy of "protected mobility" on the labour market, together with active labour market policies seeking to combine both flexibility and security. ILO online spoke with Peter Auer, co-author of the article.