Market Project Highlighted in UN Report

Job Creation and Skills Training for Survivors of Forced Labor

A new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) highlights The Market Project’s creation of market-driven local businesses that offer safe, stable jobs for men and women survivors of trauma, exploitation and human trafficking.
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The newly published ILO report, Global guidelines on the economic reintegration of victims of forced labour, is an excellent resource for practitioners and policymakers seeking practical, holistic and analytical approaches to reintegrating survivors into decent and dignity-affirming workplaces. The ILO is a United Nations agency which advances social and economic justice through setting international labor standards.

Market Project Case Study: On-the-Job Vocational Training + Trauma Healing 

Chapter 3 of the report focuses on the re-integration of survivors of forced labor back into their communities through skills development and employment. The chapter includes practical guidance on how to design and deliver training for vocational skills, foundational skills such as literacy and numeracy, core skills for employability (sometimes also called life skills), and entrepreneurship.

The chapter also includes a case study featuring The Market Project’s model of creating market-driven local businesses that not only provide jobs, but also develop the skills of men and women who have previously endured circumstances of forced and exploitative labor.

The case study stresses the importance – and challenge – of building trust with those who have experienced trauma. Ongoing effects of trauma can negatively impact workers’ job performance in areas such as relations with teammates and interactions with customers. Many victims find they are challenged in the workplace by their own behaviors, such as misplaced shame when dealing with potential buyers or erupting in anger when customers criticize the product. In addition to on-the-job vocational training, each employee is trained in understanding the impact of trauma, and how to lessen that impact in their own lives and in the workplace. Employees also have the opportunity to participate in a trauma healing group.

At The Market Project, we long to see men and women find hope and flourish through safe, dignity-affirming and healing work. Through stable jobs in a supportive workplace at Market Project businesses, women and men are able to have dignity reaffirmed, earn a living and support their families.

Check out pages 73 and 74 to read The Market Project case study here.

See Case Study

• ILO Nguvu Case Study