Technical consultation on forced labour indicators, data collection and national estimates

The objective of the meeting is to discuss how to improve indicators and data on forced labour, including the forced labour outcomes of human trafficking, with a view to promoting better law enforcement and monitoring the impact of national and international policies.

Background

The development of better indicators and statistics has been identified as a priority for action against forced labour and human trafficking. In its 2005 Global Report called “A Global Alliance against Forced Labour”, the ILO estimated that there are at least 12.3 million people in forced labour worldwide, but indicated that “the real challenge is to develop reliable forced labour statistics at the national level, providing benchmarks by reference to which progress can be measured over time”. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have also called for improved data collection and data-based analysis, as has the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO). In addition, the Parties to the UN Convention against Trans-national Crime have also called for the development of indicators to better identify the forced labour outcomes of human trafficking.

Aim of the meeting

In light of these developments, the technical consultation aims to discuss the feasibility for developing (1) a set of indicators for identifying forced labour situations, including the forced labour outcome of trafficking; (2) systems of national data collection and analysis on victims and perpetrators; (3) methodologies for national estimates and for monitoring and evaluation of policies and trends; (4) a global database on reported cases of forced labour and human trafficking; (5) the development of appropriate methodologies to access global and regional progress in law enforcement and reported cases of forced labour and human trafficking. The objective, ultimately, is for the ILO and partners to design a set of tools and training modules that will be tested by pilot countries before being proposed and implemented more globally in technical cooperation projects.