World News in Brief: Floods in Syria, relief operations in Cuba at risk, ending child labour

World News in Brief: Floods in Syria, relief operations in Cuba at risk, ending child labour

According to the relief coordination office, OCHA, rainfall since Saturday caused widespread flooding across parts of Idleb and northern Latakia, damaging around 1,800 tents and destroying at least 150 in camps housing displaced families. A local hospital was also forced to suspend operations, with patients having been evacuated and mobile medical teams deployed. Authorities have […]

UN-backed labour standards at risk as tariff uncertainty grows

UN-backed labour standards at risk as tariff uncertainty grows

Threatened or actual tariff increases are largely focused on taxing imports into the United States and will make the products made by factories outside the country more expensive – a situation which may drive down demand. The ILO’s Better Work programme, a partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), has supported garment factories, many of […]

The world pledged to end child labour by 2025: So why are 138 million kids still working?

The world pledged to end child labour by 2025: So why are 138 million kids still working?

There are 10,000 children in Madagascar who, like Tenasoa, work in the largely unregulated mica industry. The silicate is used in paints, car parts, and cosmetics – to add a “shimmer” effect.  Alongside parents and grandparents, these children toil in dangerous conditions, inhaling harmful dust particles and entering structurally unsound tunnels. Many of them have […]

AI lightens the workload – but risks remain, labour agency warns

AI lightens the workload – but risks remain, labour agency warns

In a new report highlighting the universal impact of the technological revolution now underway, the UN International Labour Organization (ILO) insisted that it offered a way out from so-called 3D jobs that are “dirty, dangerous and demeaning”. Health and safety But the ILO also warned that greater oversight is needed to prevent unexpected safety issues […]