All news for country
It's World Day of safety and health at work!
The World Day for Safety and Health at Work (28 April) serves to raise awareness about occupational safety and health and gives us an opportunity to talk about the causes of work-related injuries, diseases, and fatalities, and measures to prevent them. This year, on Occupational Safety and Health Day, the focus is on the impact of climate change.
Labour inspection
How digitalization, paired with artificial intelligence, helps labour inspectorates address undeclared work in Albania
Reporting and inspection planning have become more efficient for Albanian labour inspectors with the new data management and risk assessment tool developed by the ILO with EU funding. It also improved the detection of undeclared work. As the first results of the ILO-led pilot show, digitalization of workflows and systematic data collection, paired with artificial intelligence to analyse data, can play a crucial role in improving labour inspectorates’ effectiveness to address undeclared work.
SCORE training
Step by step: Albanian textile and footwear factories improve productivity and working conditions
After successfully establishing practices that led to safer and healthier working conditions for about 2,500 workers in fifteen different enterprises, the ILO is now aiming at achieving decent work and more sustainable production in Albanian SMEs.
Staff news
Retrospective on challenges and successes - Interview with Markus Pilgrim, Director of ILO Central and Eastern Europe stepping down
Markus Pilgrim retires after long and successful service at the ILO. During his tenure as Director, the ILO Central and Eastern Europe Office managed to further raise its profile as a specialised technical agency on world of work issues and to expand its portfolio.
Trade unions
Workers’ rights in Europe in decline, says ITUC Global Rights Index 2023
In July 2023, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) released its 10th Global Rights Index. The report paints a grim picture of workers’ rights around the globe. According to ITUC, Europe is no longer a bastion of workers’ rights.
Fighting poverty
The reform of the social assistance programme in Albania - improvements and future challenges
While committed to reform its social assistance programme, Albania is still facing challenges in ensuring adequate income assistance for all persons in need. A recent ILO assessment explores the key achievements and future issues.
Three essential questions
What are the proven means to reduce informality?
In our series of interviews with leading researchers, economists and policymakers, we interviewed Professor Ioana Alexandra Horodnic, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University of Iași, Romania on how informality (including “envelope wages”) affects workers and society, and what measures work best in reducing it.
Decent Work Country Programme
Republic of Albania and ILO sign new cooperation agreement to pave the way for delivering decent work
On 23 January 2023, the Republic of Albania and the ILO signed the next Decent Work Country Programme that will guide the work on creating more and better jobs for the country in the coming four years. The programme puts better protection at work, youth employment, and improved social dialogue in the focus.
Workers' rights
ITUC Global Rights Index 2022 shows that many workers in Central and Eastern Europe have no access to rights
In July 2022, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) released its yearly Global Rights Index. It shows that in Europe, the most frequently violated rights have been the right to strike and the right to bargain collectively. Through ratifications of ILO Conventions, governments of Central and Eastern Europe made obligations to implement workers’ rights. In reality, many workers face obstacles in accessing their rights.
Long term care for the elderly in Albania
Albania faces a growing need of long-term care for its elderly population
According to a recent ILO study, at least 91 thousand elderly in Albania are in need of long-term care. Less than 2 percent of them are currently receiving formal long-term care services and most of them rely on family members, in particular unpaid female carers. With a rapidly ageing population and continual out-migration, Albania is facing an imminent challenge to ensure access to affordable and quality care services for all elderly in need.
Violence and Harassment
Albania ratifies the Violence and Harassment Convention
Albania becomes the 13th country in the world, and the 5th country in Europe, to ratify Convention No. 190.
Dignity and respect for all
Workplaces should be free from abuse: Albania third in Europe to ratify ILO Convention No. 190 on Eliminating Violence and Harassment in the world of work
On 3rd February 2022, the Parliament of Albania unanimously ratified the ILO Convention No. 190 on “Eliminating Violence and Harassment in the World of Work”. The ratification is an important step for the country where violence against women is very high.
Latest labour survey data
Workers’ education level for their jobs: is it a match in South East Europe?
Many people are working in jobs that do not match their level of education. At the same time, many employers claim to have difficulties in finding workers with the skills that they need to expand their business and innovate successfully. This phenomenon points to a significant disconnect between the world of education and the world of work.
ILO/EU partnership
Youth Guarantee garners speed in the Western Balkans
Inspired by similar schemes in the EU Member States, a youth guarantee is a commitment to support every young person under the age of 30 who is not employed, in education or training (so-called NEETs). This commitment entitles young people to receive a good quality offer of employment, traineeship, apprenticeship, or continued education and training within four months of leaving school or becoming unemployed.
Labour rights infringed during the pandemic
Three essential questions to Aleksandar Ristovski, Professor of Labour Law, Skopje
In the third issue of short interviews with important researchers and practitioners from Central and Eastern Europe on burning questions concerning labour and social policies, we talked to Aleksandar Ristovski, Professor of Labour Law at ‘Ss. Cyril and Methodius’ University in Skopje, North Macedonia. We asked him about the restriction of labour rights following the COVID-19 crisis, particularly those of the most vulnerable, and about how to guarantee labour rights as we are building back better.
Job-rich recovery for women
Three Essential Questions: Interview with Réka Sáfrány, President of European Women's Lobby
This is the second issue of short interviews with important researchers and practitioners from Central and Eastern Europe on burning questions concerning labour and social policies. The interviewee this time is Réka Sáfrány, newly elected President of the European Women's Lobby. We asked her about women's labour participation in the region, why the pandemic hit women disproportionally and the most vulnerable within this group of workers.
ILO support for Trade Unions during the pandemic
ITUC Global Rights Index for 2021 shows that COVID-19 impacted workers’ rights in Central and Eastern Europe
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has released its yearly Global Rights Index for 2021. The report shows that the COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in violations of workers’ rights across the globe. In Europe, the most frequently violated rights have been the rights to strike, to go for collective bargaining, and to establish and join a trade union. For Central and Eastern Europe, the index shows a mixed picture. While some countries increased workers’ access to rights, other countries moved in the opposite direction.
Introducing a youth guarantee (YG) in the Western Balkans
The European Commission and the ILO join forces to support young people
A new EC/ILO Technical Assistance Facility set up to pursue youth employment in the Western Balkans.
Policy innovations responding to the pandemic
Three essential questions to Mihail Arandarenko, Professor at University of Belgrade, Faculty of Economics
Welcome to our first issue of short interviews with important researchers and practitioners from Central and Eastern Europe on burning questions concerning labour and social policies. The interviewee is Mihail Arandarenko, a leading researcher on labour markets and employment and social policies.
Protection of workers
Non-standard forms of employment: assets or liabilities?
Temporary employment, part-time work, temporary agency work, fixed term contracts, disguised employment: non-standard forms of employment can help enterprises adjust quickly to market dynamics and tackle labour shortages. However, when misused to reduce labour costs at the expense of fundamental labour rights, they deprive workers of fair pay, decent working conditions and limit their access to social security. The new ILO report looks into how non-standard forms of employment are implemented in Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia.