EXHIBIT ON ‘DIGNITY AT WORK’ OPENS AT UN HEADQUARTERS

Note to Correspondents

EXHIBIT ON ‘DIGNITY AT WORK’ OPENS AT UN HEADQUARTERS

Work has increasingly become an important part of everyone’s life, either directly or indirectly.  When employment opportunities are available and respect for rights in the workplace is realized, it can be a beneficial experience to individuals and their families, as well as to society as a whole.

Unfortunately, today, almost a quarter billion men, women and children are burdened by the persistence of appalling working conditions, intergenerational debt bondage, human trafficking and discrimination.

A photographic exhibition, developed by the International Labour Organization (ILO), in collaboration with the United Nations Department of Public Information, provides a snapshot of people struggling to survive in the world of work.

The exhibit exposes the new face of child labour and forced labour that is trapping families, from generation to generation, in a cycle of exploitation and poverty.  It also highlights the stories of people attempting to improve their lives, and provides examples of how ILO and the international community are working to provide decent work for all men and women.

This exhibition is on display from 7 April until 9 May 2006, in the North East Gallery of the General Assembly Visitors’ Lobby.

For additional information on this exhibit, please contact the ILO’s Declaration Office at cassidy@ilo.org or visit the website www.ilo.org.  For more information on United Nations exhibitions, call Jan Arnesen, tel. (212) 963-8531 or Liza Wichmann, tel. (212) 963-0089.

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For information media • not an official record