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International Migrants Day

ILO announces the four winners of the 2017 Global Media Competition on Labour Migration

To mark this year’s International Migrants Day on 18th December, the ILO has announced the four winners of its 2017 Global Media Competition on Labour Migration.

Press release | 18 December 2017
GENEVA (ILO News) – To mark this year’s International Migrants Day on 18th December, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has announced the four winners of its 2017 Global Media Competition on Labour Migration (GMCLM).

The GMCLM has proven to be an effective way to encourage exemplary media coverage on labour migration and the fair recruitment of migrant  workers. The idea is to share and promote the winners’ work as a model of fair global media coverage as widely as possible. 

For the first time, the 2017 GMCLM edition attributed separate awards on fair recruitment of migrant workers – in line with the ILO’s recently launched Fair Recruitment Initiative and the General Principles and Operational Guidelines on Fair Recruitment adopted in 2016.

The ILO received more than 350 entries from 73 countries around the world. The competition’s reviewing committee had the difficult task of shortlisting them among outstanding pieces. An independent panel composed of four prominent media judges finally selected the following four final winners for the two thematic areas:

Labour Migration

Fair Recruitment

The awards were attributed in collaboration with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the International Organisation of Employers (IOE), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Equal Times, Solidarity Center, Human Rights Watch, Migrant Forum in Asia, the International Federation of Journalists (IF) and the International Training Centre of the ILO (ITC/ILO).

“The migration and refugee crises continue to feature largely in the media, albeit very often in a negative light. The GMCLM is one avenue for the ILO  to encourage balanced reporting that also highlights the positive impact of migration when  labour rights of migrant workers are protected”, Michelle Leighton, head of the ILO’s Migration Branch said.

The ILO’s international labour standards protect migrant workers and can help prevent discrimination and xenophobia while promoting a fair and effective governance of labour migration. The ILO encourages all Member states to ratify and implement these instruments as a means to support their commitments under the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The 2017 edition of the GMCLM will also contribute to the UN TOGETHER campaign, which encourages global action by promoting non-discrimination and addressing the problem of rising xenophobia against refugees and migrants. All 193 Member States of the United Nations have committed to implement the campaign, which will run until the end of 2018, when the United Nations’ General Assembly is expected to adopt the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and the Global Compact for Refugees.

Global Media Competition Submission Map

You can find the full list of the 350 submitted entries (written articles and media production) from 73 countries around the world here.

Disclaimer
The International Labour Office recognizes the quality of the competition entries submitted. However, the responsibility for opinions expressed and names and terms used in the competition entries rests solely with their authors, and reproduction of the entries does not constitute an endorsement by the International Labour Organization of the opinions expressed and names and terms used in them.