Verité Global Summit 2018
The pace of work at Verité often means conversations across the Verité global network focus on the nuts and bolts of report writing, assessments, trainings, and tool development, among other projects. Rarely do we find the time to reflect on long-term approaches to tackling global labor abuses and considering our evolution as a global network to meet those challenges. This past April, thirty-four Verité partners paused in their day-to-day commitments to gather in Bangkok to share and strategize about the issues most critical to the Verité network’s goal of promoting fair, safe, and legal work.
Contract Labor in India
India consistently ranks as the world’s largest recipient of remittances from its overseas community. Of the estimated 25 million Indian nationals living abroad, approximately 40 percent live and work in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states. Verité has been highlighting the exploitation faced by semi or unskilled Indian workers in the GCC and other regions for many years. The March issue of Vision highlighted the launch of a new project, supported by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor to promote safe and fair migration from India to the GCC states.
A Conversation About Labor Issues and Trends in China
Earlier this month, Ms. Wenjuan Yao, Verité China Director, led an informal and interactive discussion with stakeholders on emerging issues and trends in the Chinese labor market, and their implications for workers, companies, and policymakers. The event, graciously hosted by Humanity United at their Washington, D.C. offices, included attendees from a broad cross section of stakeholders, including representatives from government agencies, workers’ rights groups, civil society, multistakeholder initiatives, and industry bodies. Yao presented on four China-focused themes — emerging issues and regulations in the agriculture sector, the impact of shifting worker demographics in the manufacturing sector, challenges in effectively implementing social compliance programs, and the risks of forced labor facing Chinese migrant workers abroad. Following the brief presentation, there was a lively discussion and exchange among the attendees.
ASK Celebrates 25th Anniversary
This year, Verité’s long-term network partner Association for Stimulating Know-how (ASK) is celebrating their 25th anniversary. Since 1993, ASK has been working towards a more just, equitable, peaceful, and secure world. ASK works with grassroots communities, NGOs, governments, international organizations, and private sector in India and beyond on capacity building, research and evaluation, fair labor and corporate social responsibility projects.