Lesson-110810-3

Anticipate and understand the economic concerns of forced labor research to develop proactive strategies to raise awareness about the risks that forced labor poses to export markets. It is critical for projects that aim to increase the use of research to improve forced labor policies and programs to understand and address stakeholder concerns that research findings could have negative economic and social implications. In the Funding Opportunity Announcement guidelines, the US Department of Labor (USDOL) required research to be conducted on a good in one country where forced labor in the production process is suspected to be widespread but the evidence base is weak. Furthermore, the chosen good and country should not be on the US list of countries that produce goods by child labor or forced labor. The rationale was to choose one good and country where E2A research could strengthen the evidence base that forced labor exists in the production process. In response to this requirement, the International Labor Organization (ILO) proposed the garment sector in Mauritius. Due largely to concerns that the research findings could have negative economic implications, the government did not approve the project. To replace Mauritius, the ILO and USDOL chose the garment sector in Madagascar. However, this evaluation found that the government and private sector in Madagascar are also concerned about the economic implications of the research if forced labor is found in the sector, which could end up threatening the use of the research findings by Malagasy government and private sector actors to address forced labor. Anticipating and understanding these kinds of stakeholder concerns can be used by projects to develop proactive strategies to raise awareness about the risks that forced labor poses to export markets so these stakeholders understand them and are prepared to take concrete measures to eliminate forced labor.