"Over 100,000 girls and women in South Asia are set to benefit from a new initiative by the International Labour Organization and the UK Department for International Development, which aims to prevent trafficking within the region and to the Middle East. "

Latest projects and thinking from Ergon

What are the financial implications for brands in signing up to the new Bangladesh factory Accord?

Annual ITUC global survey, with country by country analysis

"Wage levels in China have increased continually over the last two decades as the economy has developed and the private sector has created new employment opportunities. However, disparities among geographic regions, industrial sectors and between top executives and ordinary workers have also increased significantly, widening the rich-poor gap. Moreover, wage increases for China's lowest paid workers have often been eroded by higher costs of living, and the issue of wage arrears remains a serious and unresolved problem throughout the country."

Text of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh

"This report digs underneath the façade of social auditing and certification schemes to reveal a deeply disturbing abdication of responsibilities on the part of both governments to protect human rights at the workplace and of companies to respect these rights by exercising due diligence regarding the impact of their business activities and their business relationships."

Stuart Bell blogs on the need for smarter ways to assess risk

"A global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) 2.0 could be used as a headline indicator for the post-2015 Millennium Development Goals, providing an intuitive overview of multidimensional poverty to complement a $1.25/day measure.

The study focuses on practical lessons, and seeks to find out what types of activities are most likely to have the greatest impact on job creation, and how these activities affect different societal groups. It complements the World Bank's recent World Development Report on Jobs by offering practical lessons and recommendations to help the private sector create more high-quality jobs.

"The verification of supermarket policies with the case study in Morocco shows that there is a clear disconnect between labour standards that supermarkets uphold and the harsh reality for green beans workers. It is recommended that supermarkets exercise proper due diligence by investigating and addressing workplace related problems in FFV supply chains independently and more rigorously. "

New efforts by HP to limit use of temporary student workers

Online guidance covering risk assessment, monitoring and remediation

Ergon's assessment of key emerging issues for 2013

ILO's concept note on post-MDG priorities

"Women face higher unemployment rates than men globally, with no improvements likely in the coming years, according to an ILO report. The ILO's Global Employment Trends for Women 2012 looks at the gender gap in unemployment, employment, labour force participation, vulnerability, and segregation in jobs and economic sectors. Globally, the gap in unemployment and employment-to-population ratios was moving towards convergence before the crisis. The crisis reversed this trend in the hardest-hit regions. In the advanced countries, the crisis seems to have affected men in trade- dependent sectors more than women in health and education. In developing countries, women were strongly hit in trade-related sectors."