International labour standards
Writing the rules for decent work
Decent work in supply chains
Making the systems that move our economies fair, sustainable and resilient
Work moves through supply chains every day, shaping livelihoods, communities and industries across every region and sector of the economy.
Supply chains support more than 450 million jobs, sustaining the livelihoods of millions, driving innovation, raising productivity, and enabling the transfer of technology and skills.
They shape how goods, services, and opportunities flow throughout the economy.
At the same time, persistent decent work challenges remain: unsafe working conditions, obstacles to organizing, discrimination, and informal employment.
The ILO offers international labour standards, guidance, practical tools, research, and capacity building programmes...
...that help make supply chains better for all.
Responsible business conduct
Fairer workplaces, global impact
Enabling rights
Empowering social partners' voices
Data and evidence that drive change
Evidence that drives change
Development cooperation
Investing in decent work
Policy coherence and partnerships
Aligning for global impact
Writing the rules for decent work
International labour standards define the baseline for safe, fair, and dignified work. The ILO helps governments, employers, and workers turn these standards into real protections, from factory floors to farms, so that workers everywhere can count on safe conditions, fair pay, and freedom from exploitation
In Fiji, resolving the world’s longest strike through international labour standards
With ILO support, the dispute at Fiji’s Vatukoula gold mine was resolved after more than 30 years. A 1991 strike over poor pay and conditions endured for decades, a period during which 190 strikers died. In 2024, a settlement with compensation was reached, demonstrating the power of international labour standards to resolve even the most entrenched conflicts.
Responsible business conduct, global impact
Multinational companies influence millions of jobs along global supply chains. The ILO’s guidance ensures businesses respect workers’ rights and create fair workplaces. When companies follow these principles, benefits ripple across communities, improving safety, pay, and opportunity.
Helping Guatemalan companies adopt responsible business practices
The “Ver Crecer” project helps Guatemalan companies to adopt responsible business practices aligned with international standards. In doing so, it highlights how multilateral instruments are translated into concrete actions on the ground.
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Empowering social partners' voices
Workers thrive when they have a say in their own conditions. The ILO strengthens freedom of association and collective bargaining, enabling social partners to negotiate wages, improve safety at work, challenge discrimination, turning workplaces into spaces where voices are heard and respected.
Strengthening Cambodia’s garment sector voices through collective bargaining
In Cambodia’s garment and footwear sector, the ACT (Action, Collaboration, Transformation) programme brought together workers, employers, and global brands to establish the first brand-supported, legally binding collective bargaining agreements. These cover more than 800,000 mostly women workers, securing predictable wage increases and strengthening industrial relations.
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Evidence that drives change
Good decisions rely on solid evidence. The ILO produces research, practical tools, and guidance that help governments, companies, and workers identify risks, spot opportunities, and adopt best practices. These insights turn knowledge into action, making supply chains safer and more efficient.
Advancing evidence-based policy through AI-powered Supply Chains Evidence Hub
The ILO’s Decent Work in Supply Chains Evidence Hub puts insights from over 500 publications and research projects at your fingertips. Using AI combined with human expertise, the platform provides thematic summaries to empower governments, employers, and workers to make evidence-based decisions.
Driving smarter inspections through data
The ILO is piloting LIFT, a cloud-based system that strengthens labour inspectorates in Africa.
LIFT maps contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers in supply chains to promote efficient use of resources through improved targeting.
It helps identify systemic risks, supports targeted compliance actions, and extends oversight to encompass the entire chain.
Pilots in Madagascar, Eswatini, Lesotho, Zambia, and Zanzibar are already showing signs of success, including by generating better data on MSMEs and gender representation.
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Investing in decent work
Change happens on the ground. From electronics manufacturing in Asia to coffee supply chains in Latin America, the ILO works across every continent and sector to improve labour conditions, boost skills, and increase income. As of November 2025, 129 active development cooperation projects are advancing decent work along national, regional, and global supply chains, with an overall funding envelope of around 349 million USD. These targeted interventions turn investments into safer, fairer, and more productive workplaces.
Boosting Lebanese cherry exports through development cooperation
The ILO BOUZOUR project helps farmers access new export markets for cherries. By providing training, guidance, and pre-financed inputs, the project strengthens integration into higher value-added segments of the supply chain, improves working conditions, and creates job opportunities for Syrian workers and Lebanese communities.
Mapping impact across key supply chains in Brazil
31% of ILO development cooperation projects focus on domestic supply chains. In Brazil, the ILO works across brazil nut, coffee, açai, gypsum, and cocoa sectors, promoting decent work through labour rights, skills development, safety, and social dialogue.
Aligning for global impact
Decent work is strengthened when policies work together. The ILO helps governments, companies, and international organizations coordinate regulations, trade agreements, and business practices so that supply chains operate transparently, sustainably, and in ways that respect workers’ rights worldwide.
Promoting decent work in the cotton supply chains through the Partenariat pour le Coton
The Partnership for Cotton (Partenariat pour le coton) aims to aims to accelerate progress on social justice through sustainable development, trade and investment using the cotton supply chain – which provides livelihoods to nearly 10 million people in West Africa alone – as an entry point. This partnership brings together a wide-ranging alliance of governments, international organizations, development banks, and civil society groups to support the implementation of an ambitious plan to upgrade cotton-garment supply chains initially focusing on Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali (the “Cotton 4” countries) and Côte d’Ivoire.
Through its strategy for achieving decent work in supply chains, the ILO supports governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations in strengthening rights, improving governance, and addressing root causes of decent work deficits in supply chains to build fairer, more resilient supply chains