Brazil -  IOM Deputy Director General Laura Thompson will attend this year’s Global Economic Symposium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and present IOM’s International Recruitment Integrity System (IRIS).

The three-day meeting, which opens on 15th October, will bring together policy makers, business leaders, academia and representatives of civil society to discuss global issues and formulate socially desirable responses.

“IRIS aims to reduce the vulnerability of migrant workers to unfair labour practices, exploitation and labour trafficking,” says Ambassador Thompson. “Fair and transparent international labor recruitment practices can benefit migrant workers, recruiters and employers and maximize the benefits of labor migration.”

IRIS aims to bring together international recruiters and employers to subscribe to agreed-upon fair selection and recruitment standards and ethics.  

“By agreeing to abide by a common code of ethical conduct and practices, members of IRIS in countries of origin and destination will have assurances that the company they are dealing with is running a fair and transparent operation,” says Laura Thompson.

As part of the IRIS initiative, an internet portal will be set up to serve as a repository for reliable information for recruiters, employers and individuals considering international recruitment. The system will also set up procedures for migrant workers, employers and recruiters to report unethical and criminal recruitment practices.

The Global Economic Symposium is an annual conference organized by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and the Bertelsmann Stiftung, in cooperation with the German National Library of Economics (ZBW) – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.

For more information, please go to http://www.global-economic-symposium.org or contact

Federico Soda
IOM Geneva
Tel. +41 22 717 95 60 or +41 22 717 93 65
Email: fsoda@iom.int

or  

Lara White
Email: lwhite@iom.int