Across the world, millions of people are on the move – doing jobs ranging from manual labour such as harvesting to high-skilled computer programming. Combined, their numbers with their dependents would equal the fifth most populous country on the planet. And their numbers are likely to increase. In an interview Ibrahim Awad, Director of the ILO’s International Migration Programme, explains ILO's recent initiatives to give a fair deal to the world's migrant workers.
The ILO will hold its 95th International Labour Conferencer from 31 May to 16 June in Geneva. Its Governing Body recently authorized the Director-General to publish its Multilateral Framework on Labour Migration, which is part of a Plan of Action for migrant workers agreed by ILO constituents at the International Labour Conference in 2004. Furthermore, an OSCE-IOM-ILO Handbook (see reference), which aims for better management of labour migration flows in countries of origin and destination, was launched in May 2006 at the 14th OSCE Economic Forum in Prague ...
After decades of isolation - imposed by major OECD countries out of concern for the country's human rights violations - Myanmar is emerging as a new darling of the "West" - judging by the accelerating succession of visits by senior officials and gurus. New groups of investors are waiting to enter the country as soon as possible.
Persistent high unemployment, the euro area debt crisis and premature fiscal austerity have already slowed global growth and factor into the possibility of a new recession. Now the United Nations have downgraded significantly its forecasts for the world economy in the next year.
Eastern European states are in for a new round of the crisis. The external control of the banking sector and high reliance on external credit has landed the countries of Eastern Europe in a vulnerable position. Now, credit flows from Western banks are drying up again. Hungary has been the first country in the region to ask for IMF support again.
While the G20 efforts to manage global aggregate demand, exchange rate management and stronger regulation of the international financial sector have not worked out quite as planned, in Cannes the Group was further solidifying its role in directing the system of multilateral institutions.
In November 2011, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is celebrating its 50th anniversary.The new Minister, Dirk Niebel of the (neo)-liberal FDP has launched a 'radical change of course'. In the recent edition of the Reality of Aid shadow report the change is analyzed.