Organized by Association of Labour Providers (ALP) and Stronger TogetherBrief description of the session:There are 150 million migrant workers globally, according to the
ILO. Migrant workers contribute to the economies of their host countries, and the remittances they send home help to boost the economies of their countries of origin. Yet at the same time human rights’ abuses involving migrant workers continue to be widespread. Migrant workers are vulnerable to exploitation, human trafficking and modern slavery at all stages of the employment cycle: recruitment, employment and termination.
In this session, attendees will discuss safeguarding migrant workers, particularly through responsible recruitment practices. Speakers from business, civil society and international organisations will enter into conversation with the audience whilst sharing their experiences and insights from working in the agricultural, food, garment, mining, construction and engineering sectors in a range of countries. They will explain models of good practice, collaboration and key lessons learned, with the intention to scale up the good practices and address remaining gaps and challenges, as per the conclusion of the UN Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises
report to the General Assembly that this is much needed.
Session objectives:- Explore key human rights challenges regarding migrant workers across sectors, in particular regarding recruitment
- Identify the practical steps different stakeholders should/can take to safeguard migrant workers across supply chains
- Discuss what remediation should look like when incidents have been identified in the supply chain
- Share good practice of collaborative initiatives and solutions
Key discussion questions:- What are the key human rights challenges regarding migrant workers?
- What is the role of businesses regarding safeguarding migrant workers at different points in the supply chain?
- What are the challenges to brands, employers and recruiters of poor recruitment practices in supply chains?
- What role can businesses play in safeguarding migrant workers in countries where relevant legislation and/or enforcement is limited?
- Are industry approaches rather than company-specific approaches more effective for addressing the most serious human rights risks for migrant workers?
- Do we need compliance-based or beyond compliance solutions to create change?
Format of the session:The session will be opened with a brief introduction by the moderator and the speakers, followed by an interactive, conversational session with the audience. The moderator will ask a question, provide speakers with the opportunity to respond with short remarks to frame discussions, after which the floor will be opened to the audience.
Background to the discussion:Labour recruitment is now rightly identified as one of the greatest human rights risk areas in businesses and supply chains. Recruitment channels often operate across borders and exploitation of vulnerable workers can be hidden in informal and/or complex labour supply chains.
Momentum is rapidly growing to focus on this issue with brands, contractors and retailers’ ethical trading and sustainability programmes expanding to look not only at the conditions in the workplaces of the businesses that supply them or are subcontracted by them, but also at the conditions faced by jobseekers and workers throughout their recruitment journey.
