Brazil: Carnauba and the Invisible Workers Behind an Essential Ingredient

Most people have never heard of carnauba wax, yet this remarkable substance from palm trees in northeastern Brazil is a crucial ingredient in products we use every day—from gummy bears and lipstick to smartphones and pharmaceuticals. Behind this invisible ingredient, carnauba workers—oftentimes migrant laborers from across Brazil—have historically worked informally without contracts, working without basic protections, clean water, and sufficient food.



Although substantial challenges persist, positive change is emerging through the efforts of key stakeholders committed to improving labor standards. Through Verité’s partnership with Pontes, a leading Brazilian carnauba exporter committed to sustainability, we are addressing labor risks with human rights due diligence strategies. Our intervention focuses on two critical areas:

• Training for producers and workers on labor rights and practical health and safety improvements.
• Embedding contractual frameworks and monitoring protocols into buyers and carnauba producers’ relationships to guarantee dignified living standards for workers.

Learn more

Read

Asia: Mapping Migrant Worker Finances and Uncovering Hidden Burdens

In the complex landscape of global labor rights, meaningful change requires looking deeper than surface-level compliance. Verité’s workplace assessments implement a worker-centered approach, enabling us to uncover systemic labor challenges and expose their root causes.

Throughout Southeast Asia, Verité’s comprehensive Foreign Migrant Worker Assessment employs rigorous, triangulated methodologies that translate into tangible worker protections. By employing forensic investigative techniques, our team uncovers complex financial exploitation associated with migrant workers' recruitment experiences. The documentation process involves carefully mapping the recruitment fees and related costs paid by workers, along with the resulting debt burden. This allows our assessments team to make precise recommendations for employer repayments to workers who have been unfairly charged during recruitment.

Learn more



Argentina: Evidence to Action - Unlocking Solutions to Labor Risk in the Argentine Garment Sector

From 2020 to 2024, the Evidence to Action (EvA) project, led by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in partnership with Verité and NORC, conducted research to understand the complex dynamics of potential forced labor indicators among approximately 150,000 home-based workers, many of whom are informal and immigrant workers facing precarious working conditions.



Through in-depth interviews and rigorous research, the project developed a comprehensive suite of nine Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) tools designed to help apparel brands and workshops improve labor practices. The EvA project engages businesses, including brands, manufacturing companies, and workshops, by sharing actionable evidence-based knowledge for developing policies and programs that help to achieve more dignified working conditions for garment workers in Argentina's supply chains. All research reports and HRDD tools are publicly available on the EvA website.

Invisible Threads: The Hidden Labor of Home-Based Workers:

This short documentary video reveals the hidden realities of Argentina's garment manufacturing sector through powerful, personal narratives. Workers—many of them immigrants—share deeply personal accounts of their experiences in small textile workshops and home-based production, exposing the systemic challenges that define their daily lives.

In 2024, Verité completed the Fostering Fee Accountability and Cost Tracking (FFACT) project, a pioneering initiative to help migrant workers make smarter choices about job opportunities in labor recruitment corridors between India and the Gulf Cooperation Council, as well as between Bangladesh and Malaysia.

Leveraging innovative digital tools, the project promotes worker-centric data that grassroots CSOs can use to drive evidence-based advocacy efforts. Local partner organizations in India and Bangladesh received specialized training in digital data collection, allowing them to systematically document recruitment costs that workers should not have to pay. The project's impact was significant, with 95% of participants reporting increased confidence in using data to engage with key decision-makers and advocates on debt bondage issues. Empowered with this resource, civil society and community leaders are engaging directly with local government officials, companies, and recruitment agencies.

Learn more



Mexico: LOCAL initiative promotes collaborative impact approach among municipal stakeholders

This year, Verité launched the four-year Liderazgo, Organización y Colaboración para la Acción Colectiva en Temas Laborales (LOCAL) program, an initiative designed to foster locally-led collaborative strategies to address child and forced labor risks in Mexico's agricultural sector, specifically in Chiapas and San Luis Potosí. As a foundational step, LOCAL carried out a municipal assessment, which serves as a crucial diagnostic tool, providing concrete evidence that allows local actors to analyze, prioritize, and independently construct their own strategic agendas. By equipping municipal and national stakeholders with critical information, LOCAL enables locally-driven transformation and sustainable change from within the region.

LOCAL is funded by the United States Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs.

Learn more