A/HRC/45/8 Employment Promotion and Protection against Unemployment Convention 1988 (No. 168) complements the Covenant, as it provides detailed guidance on a wider range of measures to be taken by States parties to tackle unemployment. Other relevant instruments include the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (art. 11), the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (art. 54) and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (art. 27). 75. In devising a strategy or policy on unemployment, the principle of nondiscrimination must be respected. In practical terms, States must ensure that mechanisms such as income support, tax credit, debts relief and social security benefits can be accessed by all workers, regardless of their status. 76. Not all States are able to provide such assistance, given the complex economic challenges and uncertain future they face. Nevertheless, the progressive realization of economic and social rights, including the right to work, is recognized in article 2 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. States parties therefore have an obligation to take steps107 to fully realize the right to work, which includes taking measures to combat unemployment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Such steps should be ���deliberate, concrete and targeted as clearly as possible”.108 As noted above, one way to address States’ lack of resources to take appropriate measures to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 is to make proactive use of the criminal assets confiscated from individuals and legal persons prosecuted for crimes related to contemporary forms of slavery. 77. For those businesses which are still operating during COVID-19, States should secure equal access to employment opportunities. They should also ensure that employers pay fair wages for the work rendered, in accordance with relevant international and regional instruments. In addition, just and favourable conditions of work, 109 including measures to protect workers from exposure to COVID-19, rest, leisure and paid holidays, should be implemented without discrimination. Imposing dissuasive penalties for breaching criminal and labour legislation, and self-reporting by businesses, particularly those in the same supply chains, of steps being taken to tackle contemporary forms of slavery, 110 are useful ways to discourage businesses and employers from violating labour laws and standards and engaging in practices that could amount to contemporary forms of slavery. 78. It is encouraging that some good practices are emerging globally at the national level. As at June 2020, 190 States and territories had planned, introduced or adopted 937 protection measures in response to COVID-19.111 In Europe, among those brought to the attention of the Special Rapporteur were steps taken by Italy and Portugal, as well as other European Union States, to regularize the situation of non-residents and provide access to health services, social security and stability in employment and housing. 112 In Africa, Cabo Verde and Togo reportedly granted financial assistance to informal workers, 113 and in Senegal, civil society organizations collaborated with the Government to ensure that the needs of talibe subjected to forced child begging were included in national response programmes to COVID-19.114 In Latin America, Mexico is developing a strategy to offer support to small business owners and the most marginalized individuals living in poverty, 115 and Peru has created a bond to protect 3 million vulnerable families and is advancing 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 16 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 3 (1990) on the nature of States parties’ obligations, para. 2. Ibid. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, art. 7. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, principles 1 and 3. Information received from ILO. European Union, COVID-19’s impact on migrant communities, 24 June 2020. Available at https://ec.europa.eu/migrant-integration/news/covid-19s-impact-on-migrant-communities. ILO, “Social protection responses to COVID-19 crisis around the world”. Available at www.socialprotection.org/gimi/ShowWiki.action?id=3417. Submission from Anti-Slavery International. Submission from Mexico.