In April 2021, the ILO GBNFL and Alliance 8.7 – the global partnership aiming to eradicate modern slavery by 2030 – jointly hosted a webinar and online discussion to determine how to unleash the potential of SMEs in the fight against forced labour.
Over 80 participants joined the webinar and more than 160 people joined the online discussion. Together, they identified the following priorities for action.
- 1. INEQUALITY EQUALS VULNERABILITY.
WE NEED TO ADDRESS ROOT CAUSES. - 2. FORMALIZE THE INFORMAL:
FORMALIZING SMES REDUCES VULNERABILITY. - 3. SMES NEED TO ACCESS INFORMATION
IN A WAY THAT IS MEANINGFUL TO THEM
VIA LOCAL INSTITUTIONS. - 4. WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH SMES.
IT YIELDS RESULTS AND SHOULD HAPPEN MORE OFTEN. - 5. THE ABOVE PRIORITIES FOR ACTION MUST BE PART OF ‘BUILDING BACK BETTER’.
The summaries of the webinar and online discussion (including a list and links to all resources shared), as well as the webinar recordings, can be found below. Both the summaries and recordings are available in English, French and Spanish.