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.
Emerging Insight: Developing an impact monitoring system for Sida’s guarantee instrument
Migration
Shaping migration narratives: Insights from the ILO/OSCE E-MINDFUL project
The E-MINDFUL project, which closed in December 2023, developed evidence-based and action-oriented guidance, including innovative instruments, that can orientate future communication efforts on migration and migrants.
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.
Employment creation
“Jobs for all” - European Union and Sweden pledge five million euros in support of employment of young women and the hard-to-employ in Bosnia and Herzegovina
The new project “EU4Employment”, introduced to the public on 27 February 2023 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, will be implemented by the ILO with a budget of four million euros from the European Union and one million euros from Sweden.
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.
A local business promoting women’s employment
Voices
Entrepreneur turns problems into profit
When COVID-19 hit, Merima Kukić Gego’s future looked bleak. Her traineeship had ended and her options in rural Bosnia and Herzegovina looked like unemployment or migration. But instead she found the drive to start a food and tourism business, employing and economically empowering other local women.
EU4Business
Local will never go out of style: ILO supports the textile industry in Bosnia and Herzegovina to offset the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
The European Union-funded ILO project EU4Business Recovery provides financial and technical assistance to 29 textile companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina supporting women entrepreneurs, young people and other vulnerable workers. With this support, the textile companies managed to grow and create jobs even during the pandemic.
Employment creation
ILO supports first entrepreneurial steps and contributes to the creation of more than 120 new businesses in Bosnia and Herzegovina
A consortium consisting of the German GIZ, UNDP and the ILO implemented a private sector development project, “EU4Business” in Bosnia and Herzegovina funded by the European Union and Germany. The ILO assisted start-ups as a means to job creation. The four-year project recently came to an end – it is time to take stock of what the ILO achieved.
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.
New ILO report
Social protection in Bosnia and Herzegovina at a crossroads: Challenges and key policy issues
The recent ILO report says that the social protection system in Bosnia and Herzegovina is facing formidable challenges stemming from insufficient investment in closing the social protection gaps, inefficient resource allocation, and persistent inequalities, particularly in terms of gender. The COVID-19 pandemic has further underscored the critical importance of building a comprehensive and resilient social protection system.
Job creation in the Western Balkans
How nearshoring may create opportunities for the Western Balkan economies?
In this 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 Zuzana Zavarska, Economist at the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies. We asked her to explain how nearshoring may create economic opportunities for the Western Balkans.
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.