People with disabilities are the world's largest minority group (1 billion people — 15% of the world's population; of which 785 million are of working age). They face many barriers to employment, including physical, information and attitudinal barriers. Stereotypes and misconceptions (...)
"In some countries, key elements of the ESM have been radically transformed, and sometimes dismantled, even though they clearly were not the cause of the crisis or the budgetary deficits," says ILO Senior labour economist Daniel (...)
Once a symbol of misfortune, the debris created by Haiti's earthquake on 12 January 2010 is now a symbol of hope. Haitian entrepreneurs, with ILO training, are recycling the debris and using it to rebuild their neighbourhoods. In fragile states that are emerging from conflicts and natural (...)
Globally, an estimated 500 million people have microinsurance, up from 78 million in 2008. Craig Churchill, head of the ILO’s Microinsurance Innovation Facility, discusses the growing value and viability of this insurance mechanism aimed at low-income (...)
Streamed live on 25 March 2014 - On the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery, ILO hung out with the descendants of Solomon Northup, whose life and memoir inspired the film "12 Years A Slave". ILO's expert on modern slavery, Beate Andrees, also joined the (...)
In Myanmar everything is being reformed, says Steve Marshall, the ILO's liaison officer in Myanmar. From tackling forced labour and helping discharged child soldiers, to supporting the capacity building of labour organizations and the creation of new labour legislation, the ILO is working (...)
Employing people with disabilities – a huge and largely overlooked market segment – makes a lot of sense for companies. But that requires overcoming a fear of the unknown and looking at abilities rather than disabilities.
An ILO project in Zimbabwe is helping improve the quality of apprenticeships in the informal economy. The programme helps young people, particularly those living with disability, find decent work and escape the vicious circle of marginalization and (...)
An ILO assessment of Syrian refugee employment in Lebanon finds that low wages, high unemployment and lack of labour market regulation pose serious challenges to livelihoods for both residents and refugees in host communities.