ILO Unveils Digital Guide to Decode Labour Rights and Supply-Chain Standards

The guide blends clear, plain-language explanations with concise references drawn from authoritative international sources and real-world examples.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has released a new, user-friendly digital publication designed to demystify the often complex terminology surrounding labour rights, global trade, and modern supply chains—a growing priority as technology accelerates transparency and compliance demands worldwide.

Titled Understanding rights at work: A guide to key terms related to fundamental principles and rights at work, trade and supply chains, the resource breaks down critical concepts such as forced labour, child labour, collective bargaining, equality and non-discrimination, and occupational safety and health. It also covers the emerging digital frameworks now shaping global trade and regulatory due diligence.

The guide blends clear, plain-language explanations with concise references drawn from authoritative international sources and real-world examples. Embedded QR codes and digital links allow users to jump instantly into deeper research—turning the publication into an interactive, mobile-first learning tool suited to today’s data-driven policy and supply-chain environments.

Designed for governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations, multinational businesses, academics, and compliance professionals, the guide answers a mounting global need: a practical, universally accessible tool to help align labour-rights understanding across borders. This need has grown rapidly alongside the expansion of labour-rights clauses in trade agreements and the rise of mandatory due-diligence laws governing global supply chains.

Kaori Nakamura-Osaka, ILO Assistant Director-General and Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, underscored the transformative potential of the digital guide: “By deepening our collective understanding and commitment to these principles, we can ensure that trade and growth go hand in hand with basic rights, decent work and social justice for all.”

The guide was developed under the ILO’s Trade, Labour and Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work in Southeast Asia project, funded by the Government of Canada.

Call to Action for Early Adopters

The ILO encourages businesses, tech innovators, digital compliance platforms, and supply-chain solution providers to integrate and test the guide within their tools and workflows. Early adoption could accelerate the development of smarter risk-assessment engines, AI-driven due-diligence solutions, and standardized global compliance models.

As global supply chains become increasingly digitized, this guide offers an opportunity for tech-driven organizations to lead the next wave of responsible innovation—ensuring that ethical labour practices become embedded by design.