Feature articles

March 2007 

• International Women's Day 2007 - Sweet success: How Tajik women are turning honey into economic development
  02 March 2007 - If honey can cure disease, reduce fever, improve the intellect and make cows give more milk, why not promote local development and female empowerment? That's just what is happening in remote Tajikistan, where honey has become a powerful new development tool. ...

February 2007 

• The spicy taste of entrepreneurship: street food sellers and economic development
  09 February 2007 - In Bangkok, food sold by street vendors provides more than just a cheap and healthy meal. For tens of thousands of people it is a vital source of income and a recipe for reducing poverty. ...
• Decent work in New Zealand: Thinking globally, acting locally
  05 February 2007 - The launch last week of a new campaign on decent work and a website by the government, employers and workers of New Zealand reinforces the reputation of the country as a leader in promoting more and better jobs, social protection, fundamental rights at work and social dialogue. ILO Online reports.

January 2007 

• International Framework Agreements: a global tool for supporting rights at work
  31 January 2007 - France Telecom has become the latest company to sign an international framework agreement with a global union federation. ...
• Creating a "socialist harmonious society in the countryside": Towards universal health insurance in rural China
  30 January 2007 - In 2003, the government launched a New Rural Cooperative Medical Insurance (NRCMI) with an ambitious objective of covering all rural residents by 2010. The new health insurance system is seen as a central pillar of the government's plan to improve the working and living conditions of the country's huge agricultural workforce and eliminate poverty in the countryside. Will it be feasible?

December 2006 

• International Migrants Day (18 December 2006) Reversing the brain drain in China: the return of the 'sea turtles'
  11 December 2006 - As China's economy continues to grow exponentially, the country faces a shortage of locally educated managers with international experience. But more and more Chinese who previously left the country to study abroad are heading back to the land of opportunities, according to a recent article in the ILO's International Labour Review ( Note 1).
• Abandoned but not lost: Towards global protection for abandoned seafarers
  07 December 2006 - The complexities of globalization and its impact on shipping have made helping seafarers abandoned in foreign ports more pressing than ever. A recently created ILO database on reported incidents of abandonment of seafarers ( Note 1) is the first step in this direction. Since January 2004, the database has registered 40 cases of abandonment worldwide.

November 2006 

• World AIDS Day 2006 The workforce and HIV/AIDS: Employment is a crucial lifeline
  30 November 2006 - In 2005, more than 3 million labour force participants worldwide were partially or fully unable to work because of illness due to AIDS. A new ILO report on HIV/AIDS and work ( Note 1) shows that both prevention and treatment could bring significant benefits to the global labour force and the economy, more particularly accessible and effective antiretroviral drug therapy (ARVs). ...
• Universal Children's Day: Stop violence against children in the workplace!
  17 November 2006 - Every year, millions of children who work pay a heavy price in terms of pain and abuse for their labour. The "World Report on Violence Against Children", launched on Universal Children's Day says many of the world's more than 300 million child and adolescent workers suffer ill-treatment, physical and psychological violence, verbal or sexual abuse. ...
• 297th Session of the ILO Governing Body (2-17 November 2006) ILO calls for "ambitious reforms" in labour inspection
  16 November 2006 - The world's 120,000 labour inspectors face daunting challenges: preventing 2.2 million fatal occupational diseases and accidents each year and contributing to the fight against HIV/AIDS, child labour and forced labour. The Governing Body of the International Labour Office (ILO) has called today for an international strategy to modernize and strengthen labour inspection.