Tag: International Labour Organization (ILO)

More protection, less inequality: the urgent need for a gender perspective in occupational safety and health

Stuart Mitchell

Historically, medicine and the management of occupational safety and health (OSH) have been designed around a male reference model, which has led to the underestimation of workplace risks that affect women and men differently. A new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Ibero-American Social Security Organization (OISS) highlights how this androcentric perspective has failed to consider both the biological differences between men and women, and the broader gender-related aspects. The report, entitled Occupational Safety and Health with a Gender Perspective: Challenges and Advances in Ibero-America (available in…

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Achieving gender equality in employment rates would take almost two centuries

Stuart Mitchell

Thirty years after the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action set out an ambitious agenda for equality, women still face significant barriers in the economy, according to Women and the economy: 30 years after the Beijing Declaration, a new International Labour Organization (ILO) brief released on the occasion of International Women’s Day. Despite employment gaps between women and men narrowing from 27.1 to 23.1 percentage points since 1991, women’s employment rates remain far below men’s, with only 46.4 per cent of working-age women employed in 2024, compared to 69.5 per…

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ILO releases 2025 report of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations

Stuart Mitchell

On 10 February 2025, the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR), which is a cornerstone of the ILO‘s supervisory system on international labour standards, published its annual report. The report provides an independent expert analysis of the extent to which each ILO Member State’s law and practice give effect to ratified ILO Conventions and Protocols. It outlines how Member States are fulfilling the obligations they have freely undertaken under the ILO Constitution in relation to international labour standards. It also provides a brief account of…

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Economic recovery is losing steam, new ILO report says

Stuart Mitchell

The global economy is slowing down, making it harder for labour markets to recover fully, according to the newly-released, World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2025. In 2024 global employment grew in line with the labour force, keeping the unemployment rate steady at 5 per cent, the report says. However, youth unemployment showed little improvement, remaining high at 12.6 per cent. Informal work and working poverty returned to pre-pandemic levels, and low-income countries faced the most difficulties in creating decent jobs. Challenges to recovery The report points to challenges such as geopolitical tensions,…

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International migrants are vital force in the global labour market

Stuart Mitchell

International migrants continue to play a vital role in the global labour market, accounting for 4.7 per cent of the labour force in 2022, according to the latest report by the International Labour Organization (ILO). The ILO Global Estimates on International Migrant Workers, indicates that 167.7 million migrants were part of the labour force of their destination countries in 2022. Of these, 102.7 million were men and 64.9 million were women (rounded figures). This represents an increase of more 30 million since 2013, an increase that was mainly observed between…

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