Adressing Forced Labour: The Role of Employers'Organizations and Business

Monday June 30th, 2008

8:30 – 9:00 Registration of participants

9:00 – 9:30 Welcome and introduction: why are we here?

Mr. Brent Wilton

Deputy Secretary-General, International Organisation of Employers

Ms. Sachiko Yamamoto

Regional Director, ILO

Mr. Roger Plant

Head, ILO Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour

9:30 – 10:30 What is forced labour?

Mr. Roger Plant,

Head, ILO Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour

10:30 – 11:00 Break

11:00 – 12:00 Forced labour: why is it an issue for employers and business?

Mr. Brent Wilton

Deputy Secretary-General, IOE

Ms. Nguyen Hong Ha

Director, Bureau of Employers' Activities, VCCI

12:00 – 1:30 Lunch

1:30 – 3:00 Aspects of forced labour: regional dimensions

Mr. Steve Marshall

ILO Liaison Officer, Myanmar

Mr. Steve Morrish

Executive Director, SISHA

Mr. Stephen Frost

Director, CSR Asia

3:00 – 3:30 Break

3:30 – 5:00 Forced labour: responses from employers and business

Mr. Roland Moya

Deputy Director General, Employers' Confederation of the Philippines

Ms. Lakshmi Bhatia

Director, Social Responsibility, Gap Inc.

Mr. Jeremy Prepscius

Asia Director, Business for Social Responsibility

Tuesday July 1st, 2008

9:00 – 10:30 Combating forced labour: policies, strategies & tools for engagement

Mr. Shang Xiaoming

Deputy Section Chief, China Enterprise Confederation

Ms. Barbara Leon

International Organisation of Employers

Mr. Philip Hunter

ILO Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour

10:30 – 11:00 Break

11:00 – 12:00 Input session for working groups: cases from the region

Mr. Shamsuddin Bardan

Executive Director, Malaysian Employers' Federation

Mr. Eam Thavornvongwongse

Vice President, Employers' Confederation of Thailand

12:00 – 1:30 Lunch

1:30 – 3:00 Working Groups

Working Group I. Strategies & Challenges

How has forced labour been addressed? What strategies have been effective in addressing forced labour? What challenges have been encountered?

Working Group II. Tools & Resources

What tools and information resources do you consider relevant and useful to identify and combat forced labour?

Working Group III. Role of Employers' Organisations

What role should employer organisations play to support the efforts of business in combating forced labour at national and international levels?

3:00 – 3:30 Break

3:30 – 4:30 Report back from working groups

4:30 – 5:00 Wrap-up: Where we are and where do we go from here?