MANILA, Philippines – The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) cited yesterday the need for the Philippines to have a law on reproductive health (RH) to institutionalize policies and programs on maternal and child health.

While the president has been urging “insourcing,” the government has been sending money to the Philippines to train foreign workers for jobs in English-speaking call centers.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Arguing that 3,300 working Americans should not face severe economic hardship because their employer chooses to offshore call center work, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) has requested that the U.S. Department of Labor grant Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) benefits to T-Mobile USA customer service representatives at seven U.S. call centers enters…

Voice problems plague one in four workers at call centers, according to a new study. Researchers from the University of Ulster in the U.K. found that 25 percent of people on the job — which, as everyone knows, involves lots of talking on the phone — has had a work-related sore throat, loss of voice…

T-Mobile workers, CWAers and labor activists rally at T-Mobile USA corporate headquarters in Bellevue, Wash. Below, activists carried banners with messages from workers at the seven call centers T-Mobile wants to close in June.

At least 60 percent of people in developing countries lack effective safety net coverage, as these nations struggle to protect their citizens from the impacts of global financial volatility and food and fuel price hikes, according to a new World Bank (WB) data released in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila).

Twenty countries will adopt Philippine initiatives to protect women and overseas Filipino workers, especially in crisis situations, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said.

Rising revenues and job creation, backed by new investments, are highlighting the surging growth in the Philippines’ business process outsourcing (BPO) sector. On March 20, the World Bank said in its Philippines quarterly update that the BPO industry is expected to create 100,000 jobs in 2012 alone. The number of employees in the sector had…

In a continuing effort to support the government of the Philippines in addressing priorities concerning human rights education among soldiers and military officers, the Embassy of Canada recently organized a roundtable discussion for members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and representatives from civil society and the Commission on Human Rights.

The basic education system of the Philippines faces two major problems: (1) high dropout rates in primary and secondary schools, and (2) lack of mastery of specific skills and content as reflected in poor performance in standard tests for both Grade IV and Grade VIII (second year high school) students. Unfortunately, the proposed K+12 curriculum…

Statistical projections tell RP will have 103-million people in 2015 and in 40 years we will be 180 million – almost double in less than half a century.

THE ECONOMY could “surprise many” by growing 5% or even higher in the first quarter, First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC) and the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) have projected.

SINGAPORE — Asia’s economic growth probably troughed in the first quarter but a bounce-back may be muted, a Reuters poll showed.

THE Philippines is “on track” in achieving an ambitious growth target for 2012 “in light of the very good news in the economic front,” Secretary Gregory Domingo of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said on Thursday.

Manila (ILO News) – Young Filipino leaders raised concerns on youth unemployment and migration, access to information, education and training, protection and promotion of workers’ rights in a recent youth employment forum held in Manila. The forum joined by over a hundred youth, was an opportunity to review the draft National Action Plan for Youth…

MANILA, Philippines – Multilateral lender International Monetary Fund (IMF) yesterday said the Philippines would be the laggard in economic growth among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-5 (ASEAN-5) this year and in 2013.

THE EUROPEAN Union reiterated its intention to negotiate with the Philippines a comprehensive free trade agreement which will include chapters on business and regulatory environments, a Trade official said on Tuesday.

MANILA, Philippines – Multilateral lender International Monetary Fund (IMF) yesterday said the Philippines would be the laggard in economic growth among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-5 (ASEAN-5) this year and in 2013.

Multimillion dollar USAID program trains college students in the Philippines to work in offshore call centers, but one Congressman tells InformationWeek he’s going to put a stop to it.

WASHINGTON, April 18, 2012 (AFP) – The Philippines leads the world in the number of people who believe in God, while the elderly across all countries tend to be the most religious, according to a US study out Wednesday.

MANILA, Philippines – Policemen found to be HIV-positive or afflicted with AIDS will not be dismissed from the service, according to Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr. The PNP has given assurance that information on policemen infected with the disease will remain confidential, even as it conducts programs aimed at increasing…

MONEY SENT home by Filipinos living and working abroad grew by 5.6% as of February compared to the same period last year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) yesterday said in a statement, buoyed by a continuing demand for Philippine manpower abroad.

IT has been 44 years since the late Nobel Lauriate Gunnar Myrdal finished his monumental 10-year study Asian Drama: An Inquiry into the Poverty of Nations. That tome helped re-arrange the thinking of world leaders about poverty and in particular poverty in Asia. It boosted government policymakers in rich and poor countries alike, and in…

Two international groups —  Migrant Forum Asia and Human Rights Watch — urged the labor ministers of 19 Asian and Middle Eastern countries to endorse protections for migrant workers.

They should not be subjected to abuse while working abroad, labour rights groups say Manila: Domestic overseas workers must no longer be excluded in labour codes so that they would not be subjected to abuse while working abroad, labour rights groups said.

The Philippine National Police Health Service (PNPHS) has started a program to educate their 143,000-strong force in preventing the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in their rank and file.

MANILA, Philippines –  An estimated 1.4 million poor Filipino families nationwide are considered as informal settlers, and some 70,450 of them facing eviction.

With additional funds for public-private partnership (PPP) projects from three donors expected in the next few months, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said more projects may be rolled out this year.

The mining industry suffered a P10.4-billion foreign direct investment (FDI) outflow last year due to the suspended issuance of mining permits by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for more than a year and uncertainties in the mining policy that will have shaped the industry’s development under the Aquino administration.

A BUSINESS branding campaign could be unveiled later this year by the National Competitiveness Council (NCC) as part of efforts to boost exports and attract investors.