Why Global Forum on Discrimination on Work and Descent matters

Over 270 million people around the world continue to face discrimination—not for what they’ve done, but for who they were born as.

Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent (CDWD)—including Dalits, Burakumin, Haratine, Osu, Roma, Quilombola, and others—have been historically treated as “impure.” Entire generations have been relegated to so-called “polluting” jobs: manual scavenging, leather work, waste collection, animal slaughter—tasks assigned not by skill or choice, but by caste, descent, or birth. And with these jobs comes systemic exclusion: from water taps, classrooms, land titles, hospital beds, and democratic spaces.

This exclusion cuts deeper when it intersects with gender and age. Women in these communities are denied land, safety, and voice. Youth, brimming with potential and ideas, are routinely shut out of decision-making spaces and dignified employment. What they face is not just poverty—it’s erasure.

That’s why the Global Forum of Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent (GFoD) exists.

GFoD, a global network supported by The Inclusivity Project (TIP), is a global platform led by and for CDWD communities, connecting grassroots movements across continents and confronting the inherited hierarchies of caste and occupation. It brings together community wisdom with human rights frameworks, ensuring that voices long silenced are finally heard—not as victims, but as leaders.

“If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu. GFoD ensures CDWD communities take their rightful place at the table.”

At the heart of this movement are youth and women—leaders who live at the sharpest intersections of exclusion and resilience. GFoD centers their leadership, amplifies their demands, and co-creates policy agendas that reflect lived reality. They are not tokens. They are torchbearers.

People like Paul Divakar from Asia, Simona Torotcoi from Europe, and Queen Bisseng from Africa embody this vision. With courage and clarity, they stand in global forums—not just representing their communities but reshaping the global narrative on dignity, justice, and inclusion. This July & August, they are embarking on a cross-country journey across the United States to spotlight and address the human rights violations they confront.

As the world races to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, we must confront this truth: there is no equity without dismantling descent-based discrimination. And there is no sustainability without those most impacted leading the way.

GFoD ensures that communities long dismissed as “untouchable” or invisible are not just counted—they are leading, organizing, resisting, and transforming.

Let’s not just admire their courage.
Support the movement. Share their stories. Invite them into rooms of power. And most of all—follow their leadership.