Slideshows

October 2008 

• Slideshow - Rights, jobs and social security: New visions for older women and men
  27 October 2008 - Increases in life expectancy involve many changes. In absolute terms this is a sign of progress. The majority of the world's population, however, does not have entitlements to any form of old-age pension. This means that for many persons living longer also means living with scarcity for longer periods of time. Poverty in old age is a key issue of concern.
• Slideshow - Getting ships in shape
  09 October 2008 - In response to an oil spill that fouled the west coast of France in 1978, European ministers took decisive action to establish a regional system for inspections of foreign ships in 1982. Yet the growing numbers of ship detentions in many ports worldwide show the continuous need for a global system of regular port inspections. From 22-26 September, more than 300 government, ship owner and seafarer representatives met at the ILO to adopt new guidelines on port state control under the Maritime Labour Convention of 2006. In this special report, ILO Online shows how inspections work and why they are needed.

September 2008 

• Slideshow - Remove the obstacles ! On the right track to equality
  10 September 2008 - Since 1919, the ILO has sought to guarantee labour rights and improve working conditions for women and men. 50 years ago, in 1958, the International Labour Organization adopted the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention (C.111), still the most comprehensive and dedicated international instrument on non-discrimination and gender equality in the world of work.

August 2008 

• Breaking gender barriers for young women and men
  11 August 2008 - One billion young people will reach working age within the next decade. Providing them with the opportunity to secure productive employment and decent work is a societal, national and global challenge. It is no wonder that youth employment is listed high on the international community's agenda. This is the best educated and best trained generation of young men and especially young women ever. Youth employment: Breaking gender barriers for young women and men is the third theme of the gender equality at the heart of decent work campaign.

July 2008 

• Slideshow - Women's entrepreneurship development: Promotes gender equality, reduces poverty and empowers women
  21 July 2008 - The ILO, in partnership with Irish Aid, promotes women's entrepreneurship development and enhances employment opportunities for women, including women with disabilities or living with HIV/AIDS, through business knowledge and training; promoting and facilitating access to micro-finance institutions; facilitating access to markets through trade fairs and exhibitions; and, voice and representation through the strengthening of women entrepreneurs' networks and groups. In 2007 alone, over 3,000 women in Eastern Africa benefited from the ILO-Irish Aid Partnership Programme. Their personal stories are highlighted in the narratives accompanying the following photographs.
  • Women's Entrepreneurship Development and Gender Equality website
  • Publications: Voices of Women Entrepreneurs in Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia
• Slideshow - Protect the future: Maternity, paternity and work
  11 July 2008 - Safe maternity is at the core of life itself, for mothers, infants and communities. For working women - whether it is their active participation in labour markets, the vital unpaid work they conduct at home or various forms of atypical or self-employed work - balancing maternity and family responsibilities with work imperatives is at the root of their crucial roles.
  • Gender equality at the heart of decent work, Campaign 2008-2009
• Slideshow - "Confronting Climate Change": How cooperatives contribute to meeting today's challenges
  04 July 2008 - Ranging from small-scale to multi-million dollar businesses, cooperatives employ today some 100 million women and men in both industrialized and developing countries, and have more than 800 million individual members across the globe. 'Concern for community' is one of the Cooperative Principles which guides the work of cooperatives around the world. Celebrated annually on the first Saturday of July, the 14th UN International Day of Cooperatives focuses this year on the significant contribution that cooperatives can make to mitigating climate change. In the context of climate change and food price rises, cooperatives do play a role in rural areas around the world. The following pictures highlight not only how cooperatives reduce carbon emissions, but also promote sustainable development in general.

June 2008 

• Slide show - Formula for progress: Educate both girls and boys!
  13 June 2008 - The first theme of the Gender Equality at the Heart of Decent Work Campaign focuses on providing decent childhoods for girls and boys. Education for all is the key to development, but there are many barriers, including poverty, children having to work, limited access to education, gender preference to give an education to a son instead of a daughter when having to make a choice, and girls having to take on many household chores with little time left to study. But empirical evidence has shown that educating girls is one of the most effective ways to fight poverty and to break through the vicious circle of women's poverty, illiteracy and poor working conditions.

April 2008 

• Slideshow: My life, my work, my safe work - Managing Risk in the Work Environment
  28 April 2008 - Every year more than 2 million people die from occupational accidents or work-related diseases. "Injury and disease are not 'all in a day's work'", says ILO Director-General Juan Somavia. "Fatalities, accidents and illness at work can be prevented. We must promote a new 'safety culture' in the workplace - wherever work is done - backed by appropriate national policies and programmes to make workplaces safer and healthier for us all." The promotion of occupational safety and health is one of the means to make Decent Work a global reality.

March 2008 

• Slideshow - International Women's Day, ILO Geneva, 7 March 2008
  10 March 2008 - The Global Employment Trends for Women 2008 report of the ILO shows that in 2007, 1.2 billion women around the world worked, almost 200 million or 18.4 per cent more than ten years ago. But the report also highlights that the share of vulnerable employment, although decreasing from 56.1 to 51.7 between 1997 and 2007, continues to be higher for women than for men, especially in the world's poorest regions. The ILO celebrated International Women's Day to highlight the theme that Investing in Decent Work for women is not just right, but smart!