A Global Alliance Against Forced Labour - International Labour ...

A GLOBAL ALLIANCE AGAINST FORCED LABOURtrade union action. Unions, too, can make timeboundplans in this respect, for example, focusingtheir activities on one particular economic sector foreach year up to 2008.Data gathering on forced labour412. The global estimate is only a start. Its innovativemethodology shows what can be achieved in avery short time, to begin to come to grips with theglobal dimensions of forced labour. The real challengeis to develop reliable forced labour statistics atthe national level, providing benchmarks by referenceto which progress can be measured over time.An ILO priority is to provide training and capacitybuilding on the methodologies and techniques thatcan be applied to this end. Efforts might begin withthose States that have recognized the gravity of theirforced labour incidence, and have pledged themselvesto move forward against it. A start can be made in2006, with selected countries from the industrialized,developing and transition economies.413. Building on the work accomplished to date, theILO can also further develop innovative approachesto qualitative and action research, in partnership withthe academic community, so as to strengthen furtherthe understanding of the different aspects of contemporaryforced labour, its causes, its consequences andhow best to tackle it.Operational projects414. The ILO’s role is to help develop, throughpractical operational projects in collaboration withnational partners, effective methods and approachesfor the eradication of the different forms of forcedlabour. These can then be adapted and applied ona much wider scale by governments, the social partners,NGOs, development agencies and others. These“models” of interventions will comprise different,linked components, addressing upstream policy andlegal issues, capacity development of the key institutionsinvolved in tackling the problem, and field-basedprevention and rehabilitation programmes for forcedlabour victims. The ILO has particular strengths tobring to bear in terms of employment-related areas ofvocational skills training, employment creation, jobplacement, microfinance and micro-enterprise developmentas means for both prevention and rehabilitation.Social protection is another area where the ILOhas a clear comparative advantage. Innovative mechanismsfor labour inspection and monitoring in thesectors of the economy prone to forced labour practicesalso need to be developed and tested, buildingon experience with new approaches to monitoring forchild labour.415. Particular emphasis will be placed on thecareful documentation of all experiences, and theproduction of a range of user-friendly tools, guidelinesand materials in a variety of forms and mediathat can be widely used by partners.416. In line with the analysis presented in thisReport, integrated operational projects will be clusteredaround the following two principal themes.Forced labour, poverty and discriminationin developing countries417. Both regional and national projects, some focusingon thematic concerns, will be further developed.Priority will be given to countries or groupsof countries which adopt appropriate legislation andtime-bound action programmes in the near future.Further priority will be given to member States whichare able to develop action programmes in specificstates or provinces where serious forced labour incidencehas been detected. Governments should beencouraged to involve the social partners, as well aslocal authorities and civil society institutions. Suchprojects should include field-based components fordeveloping and demonstrating good practices incombating forced labour, as well as policy advice thatfeeds into broader national strategies for poverty reductionand the promotion of good governance andhuman rights.418. It is proposed to develop at least two suchprojects per year over the 2005-08 period, distributedas equally as possible between the developingregions, and building on successful experience todate. The work on the eradication of bonded laboursystems in South Asia, for example, will need to befurther expanded. Further project interventions willbe required at the local and district level, sometimesfocusing on specific economic sectors such as ricemills or brick kilns, and involving both employers’and workers’ organizations and grass-roots agencies,together with local authorities. Such local or statelevelinitiatives will need to be complemented bymore upstream activities at the national level, with afocus on capacity building for law enforcement agenciesand the judiciary, and other concerned governmentinstitutions.419. In Africa there is both scope and need for aregional programme in the countries which have alegacy of slavery, and where continued problemsare experienced by families of slave descendants.Particular focus will have to be placed on awarenessraising for society at large, and on practical measuresto ensure that vulnerable groups have fair access toland and other assets to satisfy subsistence needs.420. In Latin America, while operational programmestargeted at indigenous victims of forcedlabour may first be developed at the national level(and in specific provinces where indigenous victimsof forced labour have been primarily located), thereis also scope for a larger programme of regional cooperation,enabling individual countries to learn lessonsof best practice. Different regional or subregional86