Detecting forced and bonded labour through a rapid assessment tool

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The challenge
Leveraging data to improve detection
A tool for use across different sectors
Lessons learned
Download project outputs

Introduction

Project details

Title: Forced and Bonded Labour Rapid Assessment Tool

Project lead: GoodWeave International

Project partners: The Rainforest Alliance, Better Cotton Initiative

Duration: November 2021 – June 2022

Contact: Gweneth Langdon - Gweneth@goodweave.org

Co-funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO, through the ISEAL Innovations Fund

GFX04904_© The Studio_M – thestudiom.com, courtesy of GoodWeave International

The challenge

Forced and bonded labour (FBL) are unfortunately still prevalent across the world. Many sustainability systems refer to the ILO agreements and conventions on forced labour, and have incorporated them into their standards. However, social audits are sometimes not effective in assessing the variety of factors that come into play, resulting in low identification rates even in high-risk areas. Audits are often only conducted annually and with tier 1 suppliers, leaving the majority of the supply chain unmonitored for most of any given year.

Rugs-338_© The Studio_M – thestudiom.com, courtesy of GoodWeave International

Leveraging data to improve detection

Over 25 years of working to eliminate child labour in the carpet and textiles sector have taught GoodWeave that it is possible to improve detection rates if auditors are clear on what to look for. In this project, GoodWeave sought to develop guidance for auditors and other supply chain actors to assess the risk of FBL in a site as quickly as possible. They started by looking at their own data (over 6000 reports of audits and inspections conducted in GoodWeave-licenced textile supply chains in India, Nepal and Afghanistan) to identify key conditions strongly correlated with the presence of FBL.

Felix Aquino-Bosque 2 © Gerardo Medina for Rainforest Alliance

A tool for use across different sectors

GoodWeave worked with partners Rainforest Alliance and Better Cotton to test the applicability of the tool in other sectors. Once key conditions (indicators) had been identified through statistical analysis, the project developed a series of questions to guide auditors’ interviews with employees and site managers during the audits. Some of the questions were modified to better suit the agriculture sector prior to pilot testing in both sectors in India, Nepal and Brazil.

ORJF4767_© The Studio_M – thestudiom.com, courtesy of GoodWeave International

Lessons learned

The project was successful in developing a tool for the rapid assessment of FBL and in identifying areas of improvement through pilot testing; for example, on the structure of the questionnaires and the scoring system. The tool can be applied in other sectors, but it should be modified using pre-audit information on the risk of FBL in that specific context. It is clear from this project that there is a lack of consistency in the way systems collect data relevant to FBL. Improving that consistency and data quality is important if sustainability systems want to be able to design more effective, data-driven strategies and tools for FBL prevention and remediation.

Download project outputs

Learning Report - Forced and Bonded Labour Rapid Assessment Tool | GoodWeave

Sustainability systems are positioned to advance human rights protections in specific geographies and commodities through verification and remediation of human rights violations, such as forced and bonded labor. However to ensure impact, detecting those violations is central and often elusive.

This report captures project learnings and shares general recommendations for those working to improve FBL detection in different sectors.

Learning Report - Forced and Bonded Labour Rapid Assessment Tool | GoodWeave413.01 KB

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