19 September | 13:45-14:45 ICT

Fields to Fairness: Gender and Migrant Labour Rights in Climate Vulnerable AgriFood Systems

Organized by:

Global Human Rights Centre
The Centre for Child Rights and Business
United Nations International Organisation for Migration

Background

Agrifood systems are at the frontline of climate change impacts, where rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, and land degradation disproportionately affect rural workers especially women and migrant labourers. These systems, often reliant on informal and precarious labour, are underpinned by severe human rights and environmental challenges that are compounded by weak corporate accountability and inadequate regulatory oversight.

Rural women and internal migrant workers face significant challenges in navigating cultural and social norms of inequality, often struggling against entrenched societal hierarchies to ensure that vulnerable groups can access the same rights as others. As companies increasingly rely on transnational supply chains to meet global food demand, the rights of those who produce, harvest, and process food particularly women and migrant workers in climate-vulnerable contexts remain poorly protected. Structural discrimination, lack of labour protections, and inadequate access to remedies persist, even as businesses tout sustainability credentials.

Human rights due diligence (HRDD), as mandated under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and evolving regulatory frameworks (e.g. EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive), offers a pathway to embed justice and fairness in agrifood systems. Yet, current HRDD practices often fail to account for the intersection of climate vulnerability, gender, and migration status, leading to superficial compliance rather than transformative change.

This session seeks to foreground the lived realities of gendered and migrant labour in agrifood systems and examine how businesses, governments, and civil society actors can implement HRDD that is climate-just, inclusive, and effective. Our expert panel will share inspiring examples of inclusive, gender-responsive, and climate-conscious HRDD models, promoting a more equitable and sustainable future in agrifood systems.

Key Objectives

Examine intersecting risks of climate vulnerability, gender inequality, and migrant precarity in agrifood supply chains.
Develop and scale solutions through tools, stakeholder engagement, and integration into corporate supply chains and National Action Plans (NAPs).
Advance inclusive progress by addressing HRDD gaps and centering lived experiences, sustainable livelihoods, and equitable remedies for rural women and migrant workers.

Guiding Questions

In what ways can businesses, governments, and civil society collaborate to ensure fairer remedies and sustainable livelihoods for rural women and migrant workers in climate-vulnerable agrifood systems?
How can human rights due diligence (HRDD) be strengthened to address the intersecting vulnerabilities of climate change, gender inequality, and migrant precarity in agrifood supply chains?
What inclusive and gender-responsive models of HRDD show promise in transforming corporate supply chains from superficial compliance to meaningful accountability?

Session Partners