Dr. Elaine Lebon-McGregor, a researcher at UNU-MERIT, spoke at the Fair Recruitment Initiative (FRI) Conference: The Way Forward, from Policy to Practice, held at the ILO headquarters in Geneva on 19–20 May 2025. The conference marked ten years of progress under the Fair Recruitment Initiative and focused on shaping the global strategy for 2026–2030 to advance fair recruitment practices worldwide.

Dr. Lebon-McGregor spoke during a technical session titled Data Matters: Enhancing Fair Recruitment through Smarter Indicators.

In an interview, she stressed that improving data collection and enforcement requires strong political will and cooperation among governments, businesses, and civil society to ensure fair recruitment practices worldwide.

She explained the challenges in collecting this data, including informal payment channels, migrant workers’ reluctance to disclose fees, and limited inclusion of migrants in national surveys. Dr. Lebon-McGregor also highlighted the role of Sustainable Development Goal Indicator 10.7.1, which measures recruitment costs relative to workers’ income, and called for complementary legal indicators to assess how well national laws protect workers from exploitative recruitment.

Despite progress in legislation across many countries, enforcement remains a major obstacle. She stressed the importance of stronger monitoring, political commitment, and multi-stakeholder collaboration to ensure fair recruitment becomes a reality for all workers.