On 21-22 May the Regional Workshop for Employers’ Organisations on Strategies against Human Trafficking and Forced Labour was carried out in Kiev with the participation of employers’ organisations and international companies from Moldova, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Ukraine, experts from the ILO Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour (Geneva), ILO Sub-regional Office for Central and Eastern Europe and ILO Sub-regional Office Moscow, representatives of OSCE, IOM, UN Global Compact, and La Strada in Ukraine.

The regional workshop was made possible thanks to funding from the European Commission. Participants from employers’ organisations and international companies from Moldova, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Ukraine, experts from the ILO Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour (Geneva), ILO Sub-regional Office for Central and Eastern Europe and ILO Sub-regional Office Moscow, representatives of OSCE, IOM, and UN Global Compact attended the event. The workshop presented a unique opportunity for employers’ organizations to have a platform for exchange of information and good practices amongst employers of Eastern Europe.

The overall objective of the workshop was to demonstrate what role can play employers at different levels of their operation to prevent forced labour and trafficking.

Key themes addressed by the workshop:

• Policies and action plans of employers’ organizations – the roles of employers and businesses in combating trafficking for forced labour;
• Codes of conduct and corporate social responsibility;
• The role of business in prevention and victim reintegration;
• Supply chain management – eliminating the risks of forced labour and trafficking

Objectives of the workshop:

• Inform and raise awareness of Employers’ Organizations (hereafter EOs) about problems of forced labour and human trafficking by providing information from various civil society organizations (NGOs), corporate entities, international experts, international and government organizations.
• Explain and discuss the link between labour migration, forced labour and human trafficking;
• Address the reasons for both internal and external migration of labour, particularly in Eastern Europe, and discuss ways of curbing this phenomenon;
• Address the particular problems of labour migration in Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania and Ukraine, and what actions are being taken to solve these challenges;
• Discuss the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and supply chain management, and how EOs should play active roles in leading this positive trend within their countries;
• Provide Employers’ experiences and practices on addressing forced labour and human trafficking issues;
• Discussing the importance of National Action Plans (NAPs) against forced labour and human trafficking in both source and destination countries; and the importance of cooperation between source and destination countries;
• Discuss the preliminary findings of the ILO’s Employers survey for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine;
• Discuss best practices for EOs on how to deal with migrant workers within their countries;
• Discuss current measures being taken by governments, NGOs and private businesses in informing the public about, and trying to prevent forced labour and human trafficking;
• Discuss the role of recruitment agencies in labour migration and the importance of self regulation to prevent abusive recruitment and situations of forced labour and human trafficking;
• Discuss the importance of and means of re-integration of migrant workers and victims of human trafficking into the national labour force;