Governments should agree to and sign an international treaty that compels businesses to seek out and eliminate such abuses as child labor and modern-day slavery from their supply chains.

"Voluntary standards on human rights and business are not enough," said Juliane Kippenberg, associate children's rights director at Human Rights Watch.  "Some companies embrace them, but others don't care and ignore their human rights responsibilities," she added.

The United Nations International Labour Conference in Geneva, Switzerland got underway on Monday.  Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged delegates to get the ball rolling to draft a new treaty under which governments would require companies to have human rights safeguards throughout their supply chains.

"Millions of people around the world suffer human rights abuses because of businesses' poor practices and lax government regulation," said Ms. Kippenberg.  "Legally binding rules are the only realistic way to ensure that companies don't exploit workers or contribute to labor abuses," she explained.

The United Nations' International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that 21 million are trapped in forced labor around the world.  These include workers producing clothing for global brands, children working in tobacco farms, and migrant construction workers.  When these workers experience abuses, they don't have access to lawyers or any means to lodge complaints with their employers.

The US has the Dodd Frank Act, and the UK has the Modern Slavery Act; they require companies to disclose information about their supply chains, have improved supply chain transparency.  But an international treaty can have much more impact:

"A binding agreement between governments sends the right message that safer, fairer and more humane workplaces are a human right, not a business choice," said UK labor attorney Elizabeth George, who agrees with HRW that the control of the treatment and conditions of workers down the supply chain shouldn't be left for businesses to regulate.

HRW's Kippenburg says, "The International Labour Conference is a unique opportunity to change this ineffective laissez-faire system."