A/HRC/33/46 documents such as identity cards and birth certificates, which will also enable them to access social security and other government-run services. Children who are identified as being in debt bondage must be ensured access to education in order to support their full rehabilitation. 51. Interventions to support the empowerment of adults who are in debt bondage or who are vulnerable to debt bondage are necessary, both for the individuals concerned and for subsequent generations. Initiatives that ensure that bonded labourers have access to land, such as land reform in rural areas, and fairer leasing arrangements; full, free and productive employment and skill training; and affordable credit could promote the empowerment of bonded labourers and prevent debt bondage. Furthermore, the implementation of projects that facilitate access to regulated credit schemes, both for entrepreneurial purposes and for personal needs, could prevent workers from becoming trapped in debt bondage. 52. In regard to migrant workers who are in debt bondage as a result of abusive recruitment practices, a comprehensive programme of initiatives needs to be implemented by States. This should include awareness-raising, training on safe migration, and capacitybuilding, for prospective migrants, officials from local and central government, and civil society organizations; the effective regulation of recruitment agencies and intermediaries; and regional and international cooperation on the issue. VII. Conclusions and recommendations A. Conclusions 53. The practice of debt bondage is prevalent worldwide in numerous sectors of the economy and particularly affects people belonging to minority groups, including women, children, indigenous people, people of “low” caste and migrant workers. Poverty, the lack of economic alternatives, illiteracy and the discrimination that people from minority groups suffer leave them with no other option than to take a loan or advance from employers or recruiters to meet basic needs, in exchange for their work or the work of their families. People in debt bondage end up working for no wages or wages below the minimum in order to repay the debts contracted or advances received, even though the value of the work they carry out exceeds the amount of their debts. Furthermore, bonded labourers are often subjected to different forms of abuse, including long working hours, physical and psychological abuse, and violence. Debt bondage is prevalent in many countries, due to a failure by many Governments to implement effective legislation on debt bondage, including deficiencies in the areas of identification, release, rehabilitation, and the prosecution of offenders, and due to a lack of data on the prevalence of debt bondage, weak rule of law, social exclusion and discrimination. 54. Under the due diligence standard, States have an obligation to exercise a measure of care in preventing and responding to the acts of private individuals. More specifically, they have a duty to protect people in debt bondage by means of adequate procedures to identify them, to provide short-term and long-term rehabilitation that prevents revictimizations, to enact legislation on debt bondage and to ensure that victims have access to justice and remedies. Furthermore, States have an obligation to prevent debt bondage through prevention of discrimination, regulation of wages, enforcement of labour law and regulation of recruitment practices, and by protecting persons in debt bondage against violations in the context of business activities. 55. A comprehensive, human rights-based approach to tackling debt bondage must have at its centre the compliance of States with their obligations under international 18 GE.16-11363