Global Report on Forced Labour 2005

A global alliance against forced labour - Global Report on Forced Labour 2005

Global report under the follow-up to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. This report is the most comprehensive account of contemporary forced labour to date. It provides the first global and regional estimates by an international organization of forced labour in the world today.

This ground-breaking report is the most comprehensive account of contemporary forced labour to date. It provides the first global and regional estimates by an international organization of forced labour in the world today, including the number of people affected and how many of them are victims of trafficking, as well as of the profits made by the criminals exploiting trafficked workers.

Based on these data, the report sheds new light on the gravity of the problem of forced labour. A dynamic picture emerges of three major categories of forced labour: forced labour imposed by the State for economic, political or other purposes, forced labour linked to poverty and discrimination and forced labour that arises from migration and trafficking of workers across the world, often associated with globalization.

The report provides clear evidence that the abolition of forced labour represents a challenge for virtually every country in the world – industrialized, transition and developing countries alike. It assesses experience at the national level in taking up this challenge, with particular emphasis on the importance of sound laws and policies and their rigorous enforcement, as well as effective prevention strategies. The report also reviews the actions against forced labour taken over the past four years by the ILO and its tripartite partners—governments, employers and workers. It calls for a new global alliance to relegate forced labour to history.