Beate Andrees

Beate Andrees, head of the ILO Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour, will take part in a live Q&A on the social network Reddit on Tuesday 2 December at 16:00 GMT. Andrees will join the event from Rome, where religious leaders from around the world will have convened earlier that day to sign the Faith Leaders’ Universal Declaration Against Slavery.

Users can join the online session, known as an “Ask Me Anything”.

The link to the event will be entitled: “I am Beate Andrees, expert on modern-day slavery and responsible for an ILO report that estimated the global profits of forced labour for the first time. Ask me anything!”

Journalists who would like to receive the link by email once the event starts should write to smithj@ilo.org.

During the event, Andrees will discuss the importance of the Faith Leaders’ Declaration in light of a new ILO Protocol and Recommendation against forced labour that was adopted at the International Labour Conference in June.

The new protocol aims to intensify the global fight to end modern-day slavery by requiring countries to adopt preventive measures, provide victims with compensation and strengthen protections for workers at risk.

December 2 is the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, a time to remember the over 21 million men, women and children who are trapped in modern-day slavery around the world.