Date and Time
November 22, 2024
9:00 am-1:00 pm
SGT
Location
Kuala Lumpur
Businesses that operate in and source from Asia-Pacific are exposed to modern slavery in their value chains. With emerging global legislation on mandatory human rights due diligence and bans on products made with forced labor, including in the US, Canada, and the EU, multistakeholder collaboration and meaningful partnerships between corporate business, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and workers is critical to effectively prevent and address the impacts of labor exploitation in business operations and supply chains.
Since 2020, the (GBCAT)—a 黑料正能量-led coalition of businesses committed to combating human trafficking in company operations and supply chains—has worked to engage corporate suppliers on forced labor. Following a landscape assessment of existing collaborative efforts and initiatives in Southeast Asia focused on forced labor conducted in 2023, 黑料正能量 is organizing a series of workshops in the region between September and December 2024. The workshops aim to facilitate multi-stakeholder dialogues to discuss common principles for brand and supplier engagement on forced labor and identify common gaps and priorities to foster effective human rights due diligence efforts, including through more effective data sharing.
The first workshop took place as a pre-forum session at the , Asia-Pacific, in Bangkok, in late September. With over 50 participants from corporate suppliers, multinational companies, and selected governments, the discussion focused on the need for clearer standards and requirements on forced labor, more targeted guidance and greater harmonization of digital tools. This second workshop in November will build on this discussion to identify priority actions across the areas to strengthen collaboration to identify and mitigate risks of involvement in forced labor.
The objectives of the workshop are to:
- Identify strategies and solutions to address current gaps in supplier engagement with the aim of building more sustainable and resilient supply chains
- Understand the role of SMEs and smaller businesses in the forced labor data ecosystem and identify opportunities for collective action
- Determine priority actions to strengthen collaboration to identify and mitigate risks of involvement in forced labor beyond traditional means of social auditing
The workshop will be held under the Chatham House Rule. The event is co-hosted by GBCAT and Amazon.