India - 8 hours ago

India’s Social Partners Present Bipartite Roadmap To Promote Responsible Business Conduct.

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New Delhi; February 2026: Employers’ and workers organisations in India have marked a significant milestone in advancing Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) for decent work with the presentation of a Bipartite Roadmap, in the presence of International Labour Organisation (ILO) Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo.

The Roadmap is the outcome of a structured year-long process of engagement between employers and workers organisations. It outlines shared priorities and joint actions to promote RBC across enterprises, including MSMEs, with a focus on fair employment practices, occupational safety and health, non-discrimination, social protection, green and digital transitions, and strengthened social dialogue mechanisms, among others.

The event saw representatives of employers and workers jointly present the roadmap, highlighting the importance of collaboration in advancing decent work, strengthening industrial relations, and aligning national frameworks with international labour standards.

“The steps taken here in India contribute to the global movement by demonstrating how dialogue between employers and workers can identify shared priorities and translate them into practical cooperation”, said ILO Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo.

“Responsible Business Conduct for Decent Work contributes to respecting and enabling the core labour rights at work; strengthened industrial relations and meaningful social dialogue; and supporting sustainable development and inclusive growth. This aligns closely with the vision of the Global Coalition for Social Justice”, he added.

The event, underscored the shared commitment of social partners to strengthen labour standards, foster social dialogue and promote sustainable and responsible business practices across enterprises and their supply chains. The roadmap highlights how the employers and workers organisations will be engaging in in capacity-building initiatives, dialogues, and policy advocacy to operationalize RBC principles and enhance workplace cooperation.

Michiko Miyamoto, Director, Decent Work Team for South Asia and Country Office for India, ILO said, “This roadmap is beginning of a journey that has been made joint prioritisation and collaboration amongst employers and workers organisations and reflects the trust that they have built through sustained dialogue. It provides a practical framework for joint action. Through this bipartite cooperation on responsible business conduct for decent work, India has showcased how dialogue can enable collaborative solutions to complex challenges and encourage businesses to engage in responsible business practices”.

The roadmap was developed under the ILO programme “Building Responsible Value Chains in Asia through the Promotion of Decent Work in Business Operations”, supported by the Government of Japan. Key milestones included consultations with trade unions and employer organisations in 2025, leading to the development of roadmap for action, based on common priorities. The Joint Roadmap was launched on 29 January 2026. 06 employers organisations and 06 workers organisations have already committed to taking action on the roadmap, with more expected to join this collaborative initiative.

Building Responsible Value Chains in Asia through the Promotion of Decent Work in Business Operations –

This programme is implemented in the context of an increasing demand for companies to respect human rights and labour rights in their operations and supply chains, including by conducting human rights due diligence (HRDD). At the same time, there is recognition that many challenges and opportunities for the realisation of decent work in supply chains relate to structural and systemic issues at the national level and require collective actions beyond what an individual company or the private sector can achieve on its own.

Using the ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy (MNE Declaration) as a framework for action, this programme scheduled from 01st April 2024 to 31st March 2026 aims at:

Putting in place supportive measures to accompany enterprises efforts to promote compliance with national laws and respect for the principles of international standards to promote human rights and labour rights in supply chains.

Enhancing capacity, dialogue and collaboration among the ILO tripartite constituents and relevant stakeholders in the programme countries to foster an enabling environment for sustainable and responsible business practices and decent work.

The ultimate objective is to promote inclusive, responsible and sustainable enterprises and decent work in supply chains in the specified sectors in the programme countries in Asia.

Project outcomes:

1. Enterprises improve compliance with national laws and better align their practices with the principles of international labour standards

Activities in India, Lao PDR, Malaysia: The capacity of enterprises is strengthened to carry out human rights due diligence, and their understanding of how their contribution to the realization of the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work should translate into practice is enhanced.

Activities in Japan: Awareness is raised on responsible business conduct and the labour dimension of human rights due diligence, and good practices are disseminated, including among Japanese enterprises. Training is provided to build a pool of specialists to support corporate efforts to respect human rights.

2. Stronger capacity and collaboration of tripartite constituents foster an enabling environment for more sustainable enterprises that implement responsible business practices

Activities in India, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia and Japan: Enhanced capacity of government, workers’ and employers’ organizations for enhanced dialogue on the promotion of sustainable and responsible business practices.

Activities across the Region: Peer-learning is promoted across countries to enhance sustainable and responsible business practices in supply chains.