Top News Media Monitor U.S. Press Releases Press Kits ILO Focus Newsletter Events News and other information about the ILO of special interest in the United States. In a 1999 resolution, ILO members barred Myanmar from most ILO meetings and technical assistance. Jordan, U.S. Affirm ILO Labor Standards Jordan and the U.S. signed an historic free trade agreement on October 24 that reaffirms each country's support for ILO core labor standards. It will not require either country to adopt new laws, but rather requires each to enforce the laws it currently has, which will join free trade and open markets with other public responsibilities. The meeting highlighted Bangladesh's success in ending child labor in the manufacturing sector, where over 27,000 children were removed from garment factories over a four-year period and given basic education, stipends, and skills training.
Monitoring is also a key component of the ongoing program.
A new ILO report on mental health policies and programs affecting workers in Finland, Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States finds a pattern of rising disability costs and increasing personal and psychiatric problems. If it is ostracised by the ILO, Myanmar risks attracting further international sanctions, adding to the load that has already helped cripple its economy. According to the ILO and the National Institute for Labor Protection, construction and fisheries experience the highest rates of accidents and occupational disease among all areas of industry. An ILO report released in late 1999 found that globally as many as 24,000 fishermen and persons engaged in fish farming and processing are killed every year, making fishing and related occupations among the most dangerous professions.