Equality at work: Tackling the challenges. Global report under the follow-up to the ILO Declaration on fundamental principles and rights at work. Report of the Director-General, 2007

Provides a global picture of job-related discrimination, citing both progress and failures in the struggle to fight discrimination ranging from traditional forms such as sex, race or religion, to newer forms based on age, sexual orientation, HIV/AIDS status and disability.

The second Global Report on discrimination under the follow-up to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work examines emerging issues in patterns of workplace discrimination and inequalities and recent policy responses, and outlines the ILO’s experience and achievements to date and the challenges it faces.
It points to the need for better enforcement of legislation against discrimination, as well as non-regulatory initiatives by governments and enterprises, and equipping the social partners to be more effective in making equality a reality at the workplace. The Report puts forward other proposals for future action, including making equality a mainstream objective of the ILO’s Decent Work Country Programmes.
The Global Report describes major advances in the struggle against discrimination, including progress in ratification of related ILO Conventions, as well as improvements on the national legal and institutional fronts, and action plans and programmes to combat inequalities stemming from discrimination.
It also identifies challenges such as weak law enforcement, lack of resources among bodies set up to fight discrimination, plans that are too narrow in scope and programmes too short in duration, and the informal economy as one area where equality-enhancing policies face particular difficulties in making an impact.