International Labour Organization (ILO) Global Competition on Labour Migration 2025

The International Labour Organization (ILO) is launching its tenth annual Global Media Competition to recognize exemplary media coverage on labour migration and fair recruitment.

Application Deadline: 31st October 2024

Eligible Countries: International Labour Organization (ILO) member countries.

About the Award: This year, journalists are invited to submit articles showing exemplary media coverage on labour migration and fair recruitment.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) is launching the tenth edition of its annual Global Media Competition . Its aim is to distinguish fair and balanced media reports on labour migration. Negative and stereotypical public narratives can fuel discrimination and abusive practices towards migrant workers, including forced labour, as well as challenge social cohesion

The competition is open to professional and student journalists and will be judged by a panel of international migration, forced labour and journalism experts. The winning entries will be selected according to a range of criteria that takes into account creativity, accuracy, balance and the positive portrayal of labour migration, including the multidimensional aspects of migrant workers’ lives.

Objective

The objective of the competition is to recognize exemplary media coverage of labour migration by encouraging professional and student journalists to submit a piece of their work, whether it be in the form of a written article, photo essay, multimedia material, video or radio.

Submitted entries should:

• Highlights the benefits of well-governed and safe labour migration, including fair recruitment  and/or raises awareness of the risks and dangers of irregular, unsafe and/or badly governed labour migration, including recruitment.
• Portrays migrants’ contribution to the social and economic development of countries of origin and destination without overlooking the negative aspects of the labour market situation of migrant workers (e.g. often a hard reality of abuses, exploitation and violation of human and labour rights).
• Demonstrates creativity and accuracy. For more information on how to understand, find and tell a story on forced labour and fair recruitment, including concrete tips for improving media productions and story ideas, see the ILO toolkit for journalists: Reporting on forced labour and fair recruitment .
• Uses non-discriminatory and non-stigmatizing terminology. The use of the right words is key for quality reporting, to avoid stigmatization and positively influence the debate on migration. The ILO Media-friendly glossary on migration  provides a list of rights-based terminologies and language that the UN supports.

Type: Contest

Eligibility: The competition is open to professional and student journalists and will be judged by a panel of international migration and journalism experts. The winning entries will be selected according to a range of criteria including creativity, accuracy, balance and the positive portrayal of labour migration, including the multidimensional aspects of migrant workers’ lives.

Selection Criteria:  A panel of 5 distinguished judges will evaluate the top ten entries from each of the two categories mentioned above. The decision of the ILO and judges on all matters relating to the contest is final, and no correspondence will be entered into at any stage. The ILO encourages entries that cover different aspects of labour migration and, as much as possible, reflect views of various concerned parties: government, employers, and trade unions’ organisations, migrant workers.

In addition to ensuring that competition submissions are aligned with the basic ethics of journalism, all submissions will be judged on the following criteria:

• Creativity
• Accuracy
• Protection

Value and Number of Awards: Three professional prizes and one student prize will be awarded. Winners can choose between a cash prize of US$1,200 in the professional category and US$500 in the student category, or a paid fellowship to participate in an online ITC-Turin  fair recruitment or forced labour or labour migration course in 2025.

How to Apply: Complete the online entry form in the category of either “professionals” or “students” category. You can submit your piece in the following categories: written press, photo essay, multimedia, video and/or radio. See the full Terms and Conditions  for details.

Visit the Program Webpage for Details