[I-SHARPS International Forum: A Review]
Three Days of Solidarity for Semiconductor Workers’ Health and Human Rights
The I-SHARPS International Forum on Semiconductor Workers’ Health and Human Rights was held over three days, from October 28 (Wednesday) to 30 (Friday), at Suwon Youth Hostel. The forum was organized by SHARPS (Supporters for the Health and Rights of People in the Semiconductor Industry) and supported by the Public Mutual Growth Fund.
Twenty participants, including occupational health and safety activists, experts, and artists, travelled from Taiwan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Philippines, the United States, Indonesia, Hong Kong, and Thailand to join us. Researchers, activists, affected workers, and workers from Korea also took part. Twenty staff members worked hard behind the scenes to make the event possible.
The sessions addressed issues that SHARPS has focused on through its work over the years, including the semiconductor industry and occupational diseases, local communities and environmental issues, chemical substances, gender, supply chains, and the experiences of those affected. Topics such as mineral extraction, electronic waste, and responses to TSMC represented new areas of discussion and an expansion of the issues explored by SHARPS.
The forum featured presentations through videos, photographs, and first-hand accounts from activists. The three days concluded with a Solidarity Night, a field visit to a Samsung semiconductor plant, a press conference announcing the Semiconductor Workers’ Health and Human Rights Declaration, and a tour of Hwaseong.
The three-day forum could not fully capture the breadth and depth of the work being carried out by organizations in different countries in response to the semiconductor, AI, and data center industries. There was much more to share and many more opportunities for solidarity than SHARPS alone could convey in this review. We hope to provide a brief account of the forum and share the sessions, while also creating another opportunity to continue these discussions and build on what we have learned.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to join the I-SHARPS International Forum.
You can find the speaker introductions and the forum materials at:
https://www.sharps.or.kr/i-sharps-en | 
