Author: Richard Samans
The full article is here.
Excerpts:
The first international convention on forced labor was adopted by the International Labor Organization (ILO) in 1930 (Convention 29). It states that forced labor is a “service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily.”
The world’s only tripartite multilateral organization, the ILO celebrated its centenary in 2019, marking one hundred years of governments, workers, and employers working together to achieve social justice. Its close collaboration with the U.S. Department of Labor over the past twenty-five years has helped to expand the International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC) and bring ninety million children out of work.
Progress on forced labor has been slower, but the adoption in 2014 of a Protocol and Recommendation to Convention 29 has provided fresh impetus. It sends a clear message to all stakeholders and countries that forced labor and human trafficking are serious human rights violations and crimes and need to be dealt with as such.
The ILO, the International Organisation of Employers, and the International Trade Union Confederation organized the “50 for Freedom Campaign” aimed at expanding ratification of the 2014 Protocol on Forced Labor.
More:
Ours can be the generation that ends forced labor, but only if we recognize that this stubborn, complex problem requires a holistic—i.e., whole-of-government and multi-stakeholder—response that begins with providing education for all, ensuring livelihood opportunities, empowering women and girls, protecting the most vulnerable, and upholding labor standards through stronger labor inspection and law enforcement.