Press releases

December 2005 

• Globalization failing to create new, quality jobs or reduce poverty: ILO report sees wide gaps in wages, productivity gains
  09 December 2005 - Global economic growth is increasingly failing to translate into new and better jobs that lead to a reduction in poverty, according to a new report issued by the International Labour Office (ILO) here today. In the report, the ILO points out that within this global trend, different regions show mixed results in terms of job creation, productivity results, wage improvements and poverty reduction.

November 2005 

• World AIDS Day 2005: ILO to organize a series of activities based on workplace efforts to stop HIV/AIDS
  29 November 2005 - Workers and employers, in collaboration with the International Labour Organization's AIDS programme, are to organize a wide range of activities in Geneva and around the world to commemorate World AIDS Day on 1 December.
• ILO, AFDB strengthen support for women-run businesses in Africa New studies cite women's growing role in African economic development
  29 November 2005 - African women entrepreneurs are playing an ever-increasing role in African economies and will receive new support from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the African Development Bank, the two organizations have announced here.
• ILO Governing Body concludes 294th session Considers forced labour in Myanmar, and strategies to promote fair globalization
  18 November 2005 - The Governing Body of the International Labour Office (ILO) concluded its 294th session following discussions by tripartite delegates on issues ranging from respect of basic labour rights in Myanmar, Cambodia, Colombia and other countries to strategies for new partnerships to promote a fair globalization.
• ILO will support efforts to put agreements of the Summit of the Americas into practice Decent work is a regional goal, says ILO Director-General Juan Somavia
  09 November 2005 - The recent Summit of the Americas in Argentina succeeded "in an unprecedented way" in making the creation of decent jobs a central policy goal in the region, according to ILO Director-General Juan Somavia.
• ILO Governing Body opens 294th Session Labour situation in Myanmar will be discussed, along with making decent work a global goal
  03 November 2005 - The Governing Body of the International Labour Office (ILO) will discuss a wide range of issues at its 294th session beginning here today, including basic labour rights in Myanmar, globalization, and employment issues, especially among the world's youth.
• ILO Director-General attends 4th Summit of the Americas Creating decent work is a political challenge
  03 November 2005 - The 4th Summit of the Americas represents a great opportunity to ensure that creating decent work is seen as a political challenge, according to ILO Director-General Juan Somavia who will attend the hemisphere-wide meeting in the Argentine city of Mar del Plata on 4-5 November.

October 2005 

• Global textile and clothing industry urges new role for ILO on post-MFA jobs impact
  27 October 2005 - The global textile and clothing trade has called on the International Labour Organization (ILO) to play a leading role in addressing a "revolution" facing the industry in the wake of the phase-out of the Multi-fibre Arrangement (MFA) that affects millions of jobs worldwide.
• Some 1.1 million jobs may have been lost in Pakistan due to quake
  17 October 2005 - More than 1.1 million jobs may have been lost as a result of the south Asian earthquake that devastated parts of Pakistan, the International Labour Office (ILO) said today, adding that productive and labour intensive job creation programmes are urgently needed to lift millions of people out of poverty that has been aggravated by quake damage.
• ILO to host wide-ranging talks on global textile and clothing trade Business, labour and governments to discuss strategic, policy responses to MFA phase-out
  11 October 2005 - Business, labour and government leaders from key textile and clothing producing and consuming countries are to gather here on 24-26 October under aegis of the International Labour Office (ILO) for wide-ranging talks on the future of the industry in the wake of last year's phase-out of the Multifibre Arrangement (MFA).
• The International Labour Office (ILO) today released the following statement by Director-General Juan Somavia on the earthquake in South Asia
  11 October 2005 - We wish to express heartfelt sympathy and solidarity with all those affected by the devastating earthquake that has struck the people of Pakistan as well as Afghanistan and India.

September 2005 

• Eliminating child labour in Latin America will produce major economic benefits, says new ILO study
  22 September 2005 - Eliminating child labour in Latin America within the next 20 years could generate an estimated US$340 billion in economic benefit as a result of children's improved access to universal education and better health care, according to a new study by the International Labour Office (ILO).
• ILO-IPEC nominated inventor of new ergonomic loom honored with 2005 Tech Museum Award New loom is helping reduce child labour in carpet weaving sector
  21 September 2005 - The inventor of a new "ergonomic" loom that will help reduce the use of child labour in the carpet weaving sector by improving the working conditions and incomes of adult weavers has been awarded the 2005 Tech Museum Prize for pioneering work that benefits society through the use or development of new technologies.
• Global workplace deaths vastly under-reported, says ILO
  18 September 2005 - Some 2.2 million people die of work-related accidents and diseases each year, the International Labour Office (ILO) said in a new report to be issued Monday at the 17th World Congress on Safety and Health at Work, adding this number may be vastly under estimated due to poor reporting and coverage systems in many countries.
• Poor workplace nutrition hits workers' health and productivity, says new ILO report
  15 September 2005 - Poor diet on the job is costing countries around the world up to 20 per cent in lost productivity, either due to malnutrition that plagues some one billion people in developing countries or the excess weight and obesity afflicting an equal number mostly in industrialized economies, says a new study by the International Labour Office (ILO).
• World Congress on Safety and Health at Work, Orlando, Florida 18-22 September ILO to release two new studies on safety, food at work
  14 September 2005 - The ILO will be presenting the results of two new studies on the state of occupational health and safety as well as nutrition in the world of work at the upcoming XVIIth World Congress on Safety and Health at Work to be held on 18-22 September in Orlando, Florida.

August 2005 

• ILO issues new publication on international labour standards
  30 August 2005 - The International Labour Office (ILO) has issued a new publication that provides a comprehensive overview of labour standards on issues ranging from forced to child labour, freedom of association and collective bargaining, equality at work and other key workplace concerns.

June 2005 

• ILO Governing Body elects new Chairman Committee on Freedom of Association cites Cambodia, Colombia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Myanmar and Zimbabwe
  17 June 2005 - The Governing Body of the International Labour Office (ILO) elected Carlos A. Tomada, Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Security of Argentina, as Chairman for its 2005-2006 Session.
• 93rd annual Conference of the ILO concludes its work Delegates pave the way for urgent action on key labour concerns
  16 June 2005 - More than 3,000 government, employer and worker delegates concluded the 93rd annual Conference of the International Labour Organization today following intense discussions on the need for urgently eliminating forced labour, creating jobs for youth, improving safety at work and tackling what ILO Director-General Juan Somavia called a "global jobs crisis".
• Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo addresses ILO Conference Decent work, debt relief needed to build a "new Africa"
  10 June 2005 - Noting that employment creation has become "an explicit and central objective" of Africa's economic and social policies, Nigerian President HE Olusegun Obasanjo today urged the continent's development partners to join it in making the decent work agenda of the International Labour Organization (ILO) a global goal.