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| PARTNERS IN GLOBAL ALLIANCE : PRIVATE SECTOR |
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South Asia, through a period of escalating economic growth, has seen a widening poverty gap between those who are enjoying the benefits of growth and those who are socially and economically excluded from it. With the vast bulk of jobs being in the informal economy, the majority of workers remain vulnerable to the vagaries of the unregulated labour market and unprotected by legislation. The drive to retain global competitiveness pushes down wage levels, and new forms of bondage can emerge at the end of supply chains.
Employers in the private sector are both part of the problem but also of the solution to bonded labour. Access to productive and decent work is a major way for socially disadvantaged groups to break the cycle of poverty. The overriding challenge for business is to improve the access and quality of employment for poor people, while enhancing enterprise productivity and retaining a competitive advantage. In a globalized world, no company can afford to run the risk to its reputation of being exposed for harbouring bonded labour in its supply chain, as consumers increasingly demand to know the conditions under which the goods and services they buy are produced. Nor can countries turn a blind eye to the flouting of labour rights in their territories, and the disincentive that this provides to foreign investment.
The private sector thus has a key role to play in the elimination of bonded labour, as a social and moral imperative but also because, ultimately, labour exploitation of all kinds is bad for business.
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