A/HRC/42/44
to achieve sustainable cultural and community change. 120 To be effective, anti-slavery
efforts must combine criminal justice efforts with other interventions that legally empower
vulnerable populations, including through unions and worker organizations and by
strengthening the capabilities of local officials and institutions, and connecting local efforts
to national, regional and global efforts. 121 At the same time, the connective tissue needed to
join these efforts up is emerging, both in the form of sectorial and value-chain initiatives122
and through deliberate efforts to connect the bottom to the top, such as the Freedom Fund’s
Freedom Rising initiative, which aims to empower local-level leaders and build a more
inclusive and victim-centred anti-slavery movement. But donors – both governmental and
non-governmental – will need to take deliberate steps to see beyond short-term funding
cycles and recognize the need for investment in longer-term systemic change.123
52.
A stronger case must be made for the payoffs to countries and to the private sector
from investment in anti-slavery efforts and the benefits of funding collaborations. Impactbased anti-slavery funding modalities could be explored, such as public prizes, performance
loans, outcome funds and social impact bonds. 124 The Global Fund to End Modern Slavery
has some characteristics of an outcome fund and offers an innovative approach to funding
in this arena.
53.
Second, anti-slavery efforts must continue to become more scientific. States
committed in target 8.7 to take immediate and effective measures to eradicate slavery by
2030. Determining what measures are effective will require not just a continued investment
in data collection and sharing but fostering a science-based culture in policy development
and resource allocation. According to one submission received, “public policy should be
based on evidence; where there is not yet evidence, the wise course of action would be to
point and test outcomes before fixing policy frameworks”. 125 The rudiments of the
development of such a culture are in place, including through important initiatives such as
Delta 8.7,126 but sustained investment, attention and support from Member States and the
private sector will be crucial to the growth of that culture and the data that are needed to
drive effective policymaking.127
54.
Third, anti-slavery efforts must become more strategic. A shared global framework
for coordinated action towards target 8.7, or even a framework to understand what
resources are being used in which ways, is currently lacking. Member States could take
numerous steps to develop such a framework, from agreeing on relevant ODA reporting
codes to using Alliance 8.7 to cost the achievement of target 8.7 to developing an overall
action plan for mobilizing and more effectively spending the required resources.
55.
The piecemeal efforts currently in place seem unlikely to make significant inroads
towards target 8.7 by 2030. And at present it is difficult to say whether there is movement
closer to the target, or if the opposite applies. If Member States wish to achieve target 8.7
by 2030, a clearer system for prioritizing and allocating resource expenditure based on
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
16
“Collaborating for freedom: anti-slavery partnerships in the UK”, research report from the Office of
the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner and the University of Nottingham Rights Lab, 2017.
Freedom Fund submission, Q5.
Sectoral initiatives are being developed in sectors such as cocoa, fishing, apparel and the electronics
sector. A promising example is the Thai seafood working group led by the Ethical Trading Initiative
to tackle slavery issues in the Thai seafood industry. This initiative, which involves retailers and
suppliers, businesses (mainly supermarkets), non-governmental organizations such as Anti-Slavery
International and unions such as the International Transport Workers Federation and the Trades
Union Congress, emphasizes engagement with key local and international stakeholders, including
workers’ representatives, Thai companies and the Government of Thailand. Additional information is
available at www.ethicaltrade.org/programmes/thailands-seafood-industry.
Global Fund to End Modern Slavery submission, p. 2.
International Capital Markets Association, “Working towards a harmonized framework for impact
reporting for social bonds”, June 2018.
Monash Trafficking and Slavery Research Group submission, p. 4.
Delta 8.7 is an online knowledge hub on modern slavery, human trafficking, forced labour and child
labour run by the United Nations University Centre for Policy Research as a contribution to Alliance
8.7.
ILO, Ending Forced Labour by 2030, pp. 125–126.
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