A/HRC/45/8 work,126 as they can lead, among other things, to the creation of informal and/or illegal economies 127 that are rife with exploitation. Furthermore, as clearly recognized by the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, such measures greatly affect international solidarity and cooperation in fighting COVID-19.128 84. In addition, multi-stakeholder partnerships such as Alliance 8.7, the specialized agencies associated with the United Nations and international financial institutions have an important role to play in assisting States with the development and implementation of policies focused on the eradication of contemporary forms of slavery, including through data analysis, policy guidance and sharing of good practices and innovative approaches. For example, the United Nations voluntary trust fund on contemporary forms of slavery, which provides assistance, through local civil society actors, to thousands of people who have experienced some form of slavery, has been reaching out to its grantees in Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific and Europe to better understand their needs and operational challenges and anticipate future funding needs. 85. In addition, both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have been providing financial support to States to tackle COVID-19, bolstering national economies129 and promoting social programmes targeting the most vulnerable people.130 As the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights stressed in its general comment No. 18, these and other financial institutions should ensure that the protection of the right to work and prevention of contemporary forms of slavery are integrated in their lending policies and credit agreements (para. 53). This is particularly crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic. V. Conclusions and recommendations A. Conclusions 86. States have been slow in fulfilling their anti-slavery obligations and honouring the global commitments made to meet target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals to end modern slavery and eradicate forced labour by 2030 and to end child labour in all its forms by 2025. COVID-19 is likely to further stall this process and reverse the progress that has already been made, if States fail to take genuine and decisive steps to accelerate their anti-slavery efforts without further delay. The socioeconomic impacts of the pandemic have already exposed the gaps in national responses to contemporary forms of slavery, causing further deterioration of the precarious situations of the victims, survivors and those at risk of being subjected to such practices. Taking no action is not an option. 87. The Special Rapporteur recognizes the immense challenges faced by States and the efforts that have been made to respond to the multifaceted and complex impacts of the pandemic. However, there is a close interconnection between the rising levels of 126 127 128 129 130 18 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 8 (1997) on the relationship between economic sanctions and respect for economic, social and cultural rights, para. 3. Ioana Petrescu, “The effect of economic sanctions on the informal economy”, Management Dynamics in the Knowledge Economy, vol. 4, No. 4 (December 2016); and Bryan Early and Dursan Peksen, “Searching in the shadows: the impact of economic sanctions on informal economies”, Political Research Quarterly, vol. 72, No. 4 (December 2019). Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, COVID-19 human rights guidance note (May 2020). World Bank, “Work Bank Group launches first operations for COVID-19 (Coronavirus) emergency health support, strengthening developing country responses”, press release, 2 April 2020; and IMF, COVID-19 Financial Assistance and Debt Service Relief. Available at www.imf.org/en/Topics/imfand-covid19/COVID-Lending-Tracker. Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, IMF, “The Great Reset”, remarks to the World Economic Forum 2020, Geneva, 3 June 2020.