Thirty years after the International Labour Organisation (ILO, a United Nations body that sets global labour standards) adopted Convention 177 — a landmark agreement recognising home-based workers as equal to traditional wage earners — activists and labourers in India say its promise remains largely unfulfilled. Only 13 countries have ratified the convention since it came into force in 2000, and none from South Asia, despite the region hosting the world's largest concentration of home-based workers, who number around 260 million globally. In New Delhi, workers like Shehnaz Bano stitch leather jacket panels for roughly one dollar per piece — garments that sell abroad for $200 or more — with no social protection, paid leave, or fixed hours, illustrating how the convention's goals of equal pay and labour rights have yet to translate into meaningful change for a workforce that is nearly 57 percent women.