International Labour Organization

The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency that is dedicated to promoting decent work and protecting the rights of workers around the world. The ILO was founded in 1919, and it is the oldest specialized agency of the UN.

The ILO is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and it has a membership of 187 countries. The ILO is governed by its member states, who are represented by delegations at the ILO’s annual International Labour Conference.

The ILO has a wide range of responsibilities and functions, including:

  • Developing and promoting international labor standards, such as conventions and recommendations, that outline the rights and obligations of workers and employers.
  • Providing technical assistance and advisory services to member states to help them implement labor standards and improve working conditions.
  • Conducting research and providing information on labor issues, such as employment trends, labor market policies, and the impact of globalization on workers.
  • Supporting the efforts of member states to eradicate child labor, forced labor, and other forms of exploitation.
  • Collaborating with other UN agencies, international organizations, and civil society organizations to promote decent work and protect the rights of workers.
The Slow Revival of Working Conditions Rights: Safe and Healthy Working Conditions to be Included in the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work?
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The Slow Revival of Working Conditions Rights: Safe and Healthy Working Conditions to be Included in the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work?

The International Labour Conference is debating the inclusion of safe and healthy working conditions in the ILO fundamental principles and rights at work. In Geneva, a discussion is taking place this week that could significantly realign the international-level vision of fundamental labour rights. The International Labour Conference  – an annual meeting of governments, employers’ organisations…

Nuclear Threats Prevent South Korea from Ratifying the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention
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Nuclear Threats Prevent South Korea from Ratifying the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention

Last month, the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) fundamental Forced Labour Convention 29 of 1932 went into effect in the Republic of Korea, internationally known as South Korea, a year after the country completed the ratification process. However, South Korea has not yet ratified the 1957 Convention on the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention 105, which…

Health Care Providers Are Missing Signs of Human Trafficking / Modern Slavery
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Health Care Providers Are Missing Signs of Human Trafficking / Modern Slavery

“88% of nearly a hundred trafficking victims had contact with a health care provider at some point while being trafficked” Thousands of sex trafficking victims filter through the U.S. health care system each year. Words and Photos by Isabella Gomes This article appeared in print as “What Doctors Are Missing” in the Spring 2020 issue of Hopkins Bloomberg…

UNODC Expertise Supports Senegal to Prevent and Investigate Human Trafficking Cases
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UNODC Expertise Supports Senegal to Prevent and Investigate Human Trafficking Cases

Dakar (Senegal), 31 March 2022 – The picturesque island of Gorée off the west coast of Africa is a popular tourist destination.  It is also a stark reminder of the continent’s tragic past during the Atlantic slave trade. Behind the elegant houses of former slave traders stands the ‘House of Slaves’, where men, women and…

“It’s Time to Talk Human Trafficking” Through Stop-Now
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“It’s Time to Talk Human Trafficking” Through Stop-Now

Harold D’Souza shares his story  Harold D’Souza strives to give a voice of courage, hope, and freedom for all victims of human trafficking. I had never had the opportunity to hear his voice before, so when I joined this discussion through Zoom. I really didn’t know what to expect.  What I found was a very…

Victims and villains: Anti-trafficking movement urged to tackle racial bias
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Victims and villains: Anti-trafficking movement urged to tackle racial bias

By Christine Murray MEXICO CITY (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Global protests about racism and police brutality should act as a wake-up call to the anti-human trafficking movement over the approach of law enforcement, treatment of Black victims and a lack of racial diversity, academics and activists said. The legacy of ‘white slave traffic’ – a…

Meet Rob Morris, The Leader Who Fights Human Trafficking From The Hallway
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Meet Rob Morris, The Leader Who Fights Human Trafficking From The Hallway

  Rob Morris traveled to Southeast Asia in 2002 to learn more about the growing human trafficking advocacy movement. While on the trip, the drummer-turned-advocate was given a rare experience of joining an undercover team to a brothel investigation. There, he saw the girl who would change the course of his life. While standing shoulder-to-shoulder with predators,…

Agonising film SOLD shows the brutality of child trafficking | Daily Mail Online
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Agonising film SOLD shows the brutality of child trafficking | Daily Mail Online

‘Trafficking children for sex is an abomination of humanity’: Gillian Anderson admits being shocked at the scale of the slave trade in India Up to 46 million people globally live as slaves, generating an estimated $150 billion in illegal profits a year An estimated 1.8 million children are sold into the sex trade every year …

Joint Statement
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Joint Statement

On 31 December 2014, the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT), an alliance of six organizations committed to combatting human trafficking, concluded its long-standing work towards curbing one of the most heinous crimes and human rights violations of our time. Members of UN.GIFT Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) International…

Labor Trafficking Is Human Trafficking
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Labor Trafficking Is Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is often thought of as only sexual activities, but a much larger population of victims is involved in labor trafficking. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) defines labor trafficking as: “The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or…