Supply chains
The advent of a globalized economy means both raw materials and labour are now regularly sourced from all corners of the globe. There is a grave risk that that these services are provided, or materials produced by, victims of trafficking. Trafficking for labour exploitation is one of the most prevalent forms of trafficking in human beings across the world but amongst the least addressed. If an entity can detect and remove the risk of labour trafficking within their supply chains, labour trafficking will gradually become less profitable, and therefore less widespread.
The 2011 Ministerial Declaration on Combating All Forms of Human Trafficking encourages governments to incorporate due diligence and transparency standards in assessing and addressing risks of exploitation throughout supply chains, including “zero-tolerance” policies, in government procurement of goods and services. OSCE Ministerial Council Decision No. 6/17 calls on participating States, OSCE executive structures, and the private sector to adopt and implement measures to prevent trafficking in their supply chains.
In 2016 the Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings (OSR/CTHB) launched its project on the prevention of trafficking in human beings in supply chains. The project aims to provide participating States with practical tools to enact concrete measures to prevent human trafficking in supply chains and to build their capacity to implement these measures. A new phase of the project aims to ensure that international organizations’ procurement practices, including the OSCE’s, do not contribute to trafficking and labour exploitation when sourcing goods and services.
The current priorities of the project are threefold:
I. Prevention through government practices and measures
In order to assist OSCE participating States, the OSR/CTHB has developed materials and guidelines and has carried out numerous awareness-raising and capacity-building initiatives, including holding workshops across the OSCE region and engaging with high-level actors.
II. Prevention in OSCE’s procurement
The OSCE, as a promotor of policies and practices on prevention of human trafficking in public sector supply chains, also took the strategic decision to ensure that its own supply chains and procurement practices do not contribute to human trafficking. In co-operation with the procurement unit, the OSR/CTHB has: updated the OSCE Procurement Policies; carried out a pilot project on monitoring and risk assessment of the supply chains of the OSCE Mission to Serbia; initiated the development of Guidelines and Training for OSCE Procurement Experts.
III. Prevention in the supply chains of international organizations
Using the knowledge and expertise it has acquired so far, the OSR/CTHB aims to support and work with other international organizations in preventing the risk of THB within their supply chains. This is achieved by participating in fora such as the UN’s Inter-agency Coordination Group Against Trafficking (ICAT) and the Task Force for Development of a Joint Approach in Combating Trafficking in Human Beings in Supply Chains. The goal is to harmonize procurement practices across international organizations.