Empowering partnerships to tackle modern slavery

Ever wondered whether the things you own were made or rendered in an ethical manner? Or whether the people involved in the production and supply chain of these products and services were properly treated and not forced or trafficked?

The International Labor Organization estimates that more than 21 million people are globally enslaved, while the Australia-based Walk Free Foundation report that 15 million more are suffering from the same condition — this means 1 in every 200 people worldwide are enslaved. And they are present in almost every industry in the economy. These include domestic work, hotel and restaurant services, farm work, factory production, fishing, and sex work, among others.

Slavery has been a rampant problem for centuries and modern slavery — the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force for the purpose of exploitation, usually involving money — continues largely unabated, despite efforts by several organizations and multilateral institutions to address the issue.