⚽ A new report by the @Sport_Rights and @FansEurope raises serious concerns about FIFA's failure to uphold its human rights commitments during the 2026 Mens World Cup. The report documents a wide range of human rights concerns affecting fans, athletes, journalists, migrant workers and local communities, including discriminatory immigration policies, restrictions on fundamental freedoms, barriers to participation and inadequate access to remedy. These findings echo concerns #Equidem has also raised through years of investigations into the human rights and labour conditions associated with FIFA tournaments, from Qatar 2022 to the 2026 World Cup and preparations for Saudi Arabia 2034. Across these investigations, we have documented how migrant workers face exploitation, discrimination, unsafe working conditions and significant barriers to accessing justice, often within complex contracting and subcontracting arrangements where accountability remains weak. Together, these findings point to a persistent failure to translate FIFAs human rights commitments into meaningful protections for the workers and communities affected by its tournaments. For an organisation with FIFA's global influence, financial resources and immense commercial reach, the continued failure to safeguard fundamental human rights raises serious questions about its accountability mechanisms. These are not new or unforeseeable risks. They have been documented repeatedly, and the measures needed to address them are well established. It is time for FIFA to move beyond commitments and demonstrate concrete action through enforceable human rights safeguards, independent oversight, meaningful engagement with affected workers and communities, and effective access to remedy. The scale and influence of global sporting events must be matched by an equally serious commitment to protecting the rights of the people who make them possible. 🔗 Read the report: sportandrightsalliance.org/f… #FIFAWorldCup #HumanRights #MigrantWorkers #LabourRights #Accountability

🌡️ From garment factories to workers producing for global sporting events like the FIFA World Cup, we are seeing again and again how rising temperatures and extreme heat are putting workers' lives and livelihoods at risk. As Equidem's research has shown, climate change deepens existing vulnerabilities, exacerbates exploitation and violence, and creates a vicious cycle in which workers with the least protection are often the most exposed to its consequences. 🤝 It is time to move beyond documenting these problems towards collective action and practical solutions developed in close consultation with workers, trade unions, communities, and other stakeholders on the ground. Meaningful solutions do not always require enormous resources. Practical, low-cost interventions can make a real difference when workers and communities are genuinely involved in shaping them. But these efforts must also address the underlying conditions that make workers vulnerable in the first place, including restrictions on freedom of association and collective bargaining, and inadequate labour protections. 🌍 Without recognising the intersection of climate change, labour rights, and human rights, we risk addressing the symptoms while leaving the structures that perpetuate exploitation untouched. 📖 Read Equidem's research: Climate Change in the World of Work: Violence at the Systemic Edge equidem.org/reports/climate-… Playing with Lives: Heat Risk, Labour Rights and Accountability at the FIFA World Cup 2026 equidem.org/reports/playing-… Read the latest article by Lucianne Tonti in Marie Claire, exploring how rising temperatures and extreme heat are affecting garment workers: marieclaire.co.uk/fashion/hu…

Equidem CEO Mustafa Qadri Calls for Worker-Centred Approach to Irregular Migration at Bali Process Workshop At a Bali Process workshop on 'Addressing Irregular Migration: Perspectives and Lessons Learned from Regularisation Programmes’, Equidem Founder and CEO Mustafa Qadri spoke about why irregular migration cannot be understood or addressed only through an enforcement lens. Drawing on Equidem’s work with migrant workers across major migration corridors, Mustafa highlighted three critical issues: 🔴 Irregularity is often produced by the migration and labour system itself. Workers may set out to migrate through regular channels, but recruitment abuse, excessive fees or barriers to changing employers can push them into undocumented situations. 🔴 Irregular status can create conditions in which exploitation thrives. Fear of detention, deportation or losing a livelihood can make it much harder for workers to challenge wage theft, unsafe conditions and other abuses. 🔴 Enforcement alone does not address the demand for migrant labour. Many industries continue to depend heavily on migrant workers, while enforcement-focused responses can leave the underlying labour demand and exploitative practices untouched. As Mustafa stressed, migrant workers should not be seen as peripheral to our economies — they sustain essential services and industries across countries. What is needed is a more effective and humane approach that protects their rights and asks a more fundamental question: how do we shift power away from systems that profit from worker vulnerability and towards workers themselves?

What happens when private actors exercise powers once associated primarily with states? On 2 October, Equidem Director Mustafa Qadri will speak at the London Conference on International Law 2026, joining the panel “Non-State Actors and International Law: Accounting for Plural Power.” As corporations and digital labour platforms increasingly shape access to work, pay and working conditions across borders, often through contracts, data and algorithms, important questions arise about how international law responds to these forms of private power. Drawing on Equidem’s work with workers across global supply chains and the platform economy, Mustafa will explore what this means for worker rights, collective agency, accountability and the enforcement of rights across borders and how international law can better respond to new forms of corporate power while protecting workers’ ability to organise and act collectively. The discussion will bring together perspectives from international law, business, human rights and governance to ask a fundamental question: how should international law adapt when power is no longer exercised by states alone? 📍 QEII Centre, London 📅 Friday, 2 October 2026 🕑 14:15–15:45 Learn more and register: thelondonconference.org/ #InternationalLaw #HumanRights #LabourRights #PlatformWork #WorkerRights #BusinessAndHumanRights #Equidem

On 26 August, a catastrophic flash flood triggered by a glacier collapse near the Nepal–Tibet border claimed hundreds of lives, left thousands missing, and devastated homes, livelihoods and essential infrastructure. The floods have had an especially severe impact on communities already facing significant economic insecurity. Many of the communities Equidem works with have lost their homes, household possessions and essential assets, from beds and cooking utensils to the basic items on which everyday life depends. Most are low-wage informal workers and families of Gulf migrant workers who were already struggling with debt, precarious employment and limited access to social protection when this disaster struck. Equidem is raising funds to support affected workers and their families. We will provide direct financial assistance, as well as food and other essential items, to communities who are now facing an acute crisis. We are asking our friends, partners and wider community to contribute where they can. We will also share updates on how the funds raised are being distributed and the communities they are supporting. If you are able to support this effort, please contribute here: buy.stripe.com/00weVefBW6Bj3… We would also be grateful if you could share this appeal through your networks.

⚽ As the World Cup moves through its most watched and high-stakes matchdays, global attention is fixed on the pitch -- on the goals, results, rivalries and moments that define the tournament. But every matchday also depends on a vast workforce operating behind the spectacle. From stadium operations, transport and security to cleaning, hospitality, logistics and venue maintenance, workers keep the World Cup moving. Many are exposed to long hours, outdoor work, intense physical labour and rising heat risks. 🌡️ Two weeks ago, Equidem launched the FIFA 2026 Heat Risk Observatory, developed in collaboration with students from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. The interactive dashboard maps heat stress risks across World Cup-linked venues in the United States, Canada and Mexico, helping make visible a serious and foreseeable occupational safety risk for the workers who make the tournament possible. Public discussion on heat and football often focuses on players, fans and match schedules. Yet the labour behind the tournament remains far less visible. As the world follows the drama of the World Cup, FIFA, host governments, contractors and sponsors must act to protect the people working behind the scenes. Extreme heat is not only a climate issue. It is a labour rights issue, a health and safety issue, and an accountability issue. ✊🏾 So keep cheering for your favourite teams but also call on FIFA to stand with the workers whose labour makes every match possible. Workers deserve protection, remedy and dignity, on and off the pitch. Explore the dashboard: fifa2k26-heatstress-equidemx… #FIFAWorldCup2026 #HeatStress #WorkerRights #LabourRights #ClimateJustice #OccupationalSafety #HumanRights #MigrantWorkers #FIFA #TISS #Equidem

⚖️ Rights are only meaningful when workers can access justice. Last week, Equidem’s Kenya team, Martha Waithira and Geoffrey Stephen joined partners from government, civil society, legal practice, academia, survivor support services and labour migration organisations at the Pathways to Justice Workshop in Nairobi. Convened by Global Justice Kenya, with support from the International Labour Organization, the workshop focused on strengthening practical tools to help Kenyan migrant workers access justice and remedies when their rights are violated. Over two days, participants discussed: ✅ Access to justice and accountability ✅ Strategic litigation and documentation ✅ Gendered labour exploitation ✅ Survivor-centred support and reintegration ✅ Stronger coordination across institutions ✅ Building a Labour Migration Community of Practice A central takeaway was : legal protections for migrant workers are meaningful only when they are matched by accessible, survivor-centred, and effective pathways to remedy. This requires sustained coordination between state institutions, civil society, legal practitioners, trade unions, researchers, and survivor support organisations. It also calls for approaches that move beyond individual case responses toward corporate accountability and systemic reform. Equidem congratulates Global Justice Kenya, the ILO and all participating institutions for creating this important platform for dialogue, learning and collective action. #LabourMigration #AccessToJustice #MigrantWorkers #RightToRemedy #HumanRights #LabourRights #GenderJustice #DecentWork #MigrationGovernance #ILO #GlobalJusticeKenya #Kenya #Equidem

🚨 HAPPENING TODAY 🚨 The FIFA World Cup 2026 has already been marked by serious human rights concerns. But one of the biggest communities at risk is often the least visible: the people working to make the tournament possible. Equidem’s new report, 'Playing Workers’ Lives', examines heat stress risks and wider labour rights concerns linked to World Cup stadium construction across the United States, Canada and Mexico. Accompanied by an interactive dashboard developed in collaboration with students from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, the report maps heat exposure risks across World Cup stadium sites. JOIN US TODAY for the launch discussion on what FIFA, host governments, contractors, sponsors and other stakeholders must do NOW to protect workers. ⚽✊🏽 📅 23 June 2026 🕘 9 AM EST / 2 PM BST / 7:30 PM IST 📍 Zoom: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi…

📍 Day 1 of the International Labour Conference discussion on platform work is complete. We are on the ground in Geneva and sharing key reflections for those following the negotiations from around the world. ✅ There is clear appetite among many governments for an international standard that protects workers in the platform economy. ⚠️ At the same time, several governments stressed that worker protections should not come at the cost of “innovation” and “flexibility”, a reminder that the terms of this debate are still being contested. 🌍 We heard very few governments speak explicitly about migrant workers, even though migrant workers are deeply embedded in the platform economy across countries. 🔗 The role of intermediaries also received limited attention, despite being central to how many workers experience platform-mediated work in practice. ✊ We are encouraged to stand with the Workers’ Group, which has been clear: when we speak about platform workers, we must mean all workers. As discussions continue, we hope to see more governments engage with the realities of platform work in all their complexity. Any future standard must reflect the realities of migration, subcontracting, intermediaries, and cross-border accountability, so that all workers, wherever they are, are meaningfully protected. On to Day 2. 🚲📱 #ILC2026 #PlatformWork #DecentWork #WorkersRights #PlatformWorkers #gigworkers #FutureOfWork #labour #labourrights #WorkerVoice #ILO #gigworkersrising

As the International Labour Conference prepares to begin negotiations next week on a proposed international labour standard on platform work, Rameshwar Nepal from Equidem writes on why the voices of migrant workers must be at the centre of the debate. Across South Asia, millions of workers migrate for work, including to the Gulf, where they are increasingly part of the digital and platform economy. But their working conditions are often shaped not only by platforms, but also by: 🔹 recruitment agents 🔹 subcontractors 🔹 migration systems 🔹 weak cross-border accountability for employers This is why governments in South Asia, as countries of origin, have an important role to play in the ILC negotiations, he argues. They must help ensure that any future standard on platform work addresses the realities of migrant workers, including third-party control, recruitment debt, and the cross-border accountability of platform companies. The platform economy cannot be allowed to deepen the invisibility of migrant workers. The ILC negotiations are an important opportunity to ensure that migrant workers’ rights are not left behind. Read Rameshwar’s piece here: english.onlinekhabar.com/nep… #PlatformWork #ILC2026 #MigrantWorkers #DecentWork #LabourRights #DigitalEconomy #Equidem

Extreme heat is no longer a future risk for workers. It is already shaping the everyday reality of work. This @guardian story captures what millions of workers across Asia are experiencing: long hours in dangerous temperatures, exhaustion, lost wages, poor sleep, and the inability to recover before the next workday begins. For delivery riders, street vendors, construction workers, garment workers, and other informal and low-wage workers, heat is not just a climate issue. It is an occupational safety and health crisis, an income crisis, and a crisis created by the lack of corporate accountability. Heat does not become dangerous on its own. It becomes dangerous because of the conditions in which workers are forced to work. Governments, companies, and employers across sectors must address this urgently. There is no more time to wait. We need immediate protections for workers already facing dangerous heat, and long-term solutions that put worker health, income, and dignity at the centre of climate response and just transition. To read Equidem’s recommendations on addressing the climate crisis in workplaces and protecting workers from extreme heat, read here: equidem.org/wp-content/uploa… theguardian.com/world/2026/m…

A recent article published by MRRORS raises deeply concerning allegations of arbitrary detention, religious profiling, torture, and deportation of Pakistani migrant workers in UAE amid escalating regional tensions. It is deeply disturbing to see low-wage migrant workers — many of whom have spent years building homes, businesses, and entire cities in the Gulf — being deported in such a discriminatory and dehumanising manner, without recognition of their dignity, humanity, or their immense contributions to the region’s economies and societies. At a time of growing geopolitical instability, migrant workers must not become targets of collective punishment, surveillance, or discrimination based on religious identity, migrant status, or nationality. The allegations outlined in this investigation demand immediate attention. Governments, international institutions, and human rights bodies must urgently ensure that migrant workers are protected from arbitrary detention, abuse, and discriminatory deportation practices, and that due process and fundamental human rights are upheld for all. mrrors.org/2026/05/detained-…

📢 This new report from @hrw “Algorithms of Exploitation,” documents the experiences of platform workers across India, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mexico, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the United Kingdom. The report once again highlights deeply concerning patterns emerging across platform economies: low and unpredictable pay, opaque algorithmic management, unpaid waiting time, unsafe working conditions, arbitrary suspensions and deactivations, and limited access to social protection. As governments, employers, and worker representatives prepare to negotiate international standards on platform work at the International Labour Organization (ILO) this June, this research is yet another important reminder of the urgent need for stronger protections and greater corporate accountability in the platform economy. 📄 Don’t miss this important report hrw.org/feature/2026/05/13/a…