Globally, it is estimated that there are over 40 million men, women and children in modern slavery today. Two thirds of these victims are in Asia. These victims, who can be found in factories, construction sites, fisheries and sex venues, are forced to work for little or no pay, deprived of their freedom and often subjected to unimaginable suffering. Many of them are trapped in supply-chain slavery. Despite the efforts of governments, the United Nations, and NGOs around the world, only 0.2% of the victims of slavery are helped each year. For the world to make a difference in addressing this problem, the private sector needs to engage in this fight. Fighting slavery is the right thing to do, and the private sector is increasingly being scrutinised by both the public and the powers that be. New laws related to modern slavery see a rising number of lawsuits against corporations that fail to act. Wider media attention to the problem of slavery, provides further impetus for companies to take up the fight. Gradually, good businesses are stepping up to fight the business of slavery. With this in mind, the Mekong Club will launch the “ESG” project as the community leader in the fight against modern slavery. We will produce a set of quantified indicators of modern slavery in an effort to facilitate investment into companies that are making significant efforts to address the problem.

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Financial and Contractual Approaches to Mitigating Foreign Migrant Worker Recruitment-Related Risks
Guidance

Foreign migrant workers are often faced with a choice: pay illegal or unethical recruitment fees for a job abroad or go without work altogether. To finance these exorbitant costs, which can be as high as USD 6,000 in some migration corridors, they o...Read More

A Fair Hiring Framework for Responsible Business
Guidance

Our Help Wanted Primer articulates the risk to multinational companies of forced labour and resulting debt-bondage caused by labour recruitment, and identifies the places within a company’s sourcing practices where recruiters present a reputational...Read More

Freedom Business Code of Excellence 2.0
Guidance

Today over 40 million people are enslaved worldwide. 80% of those rescued from modern slavery, also known as Human Trafficking, will be re-trafficked absent safe employment opportunities. To fight modern slavery and exploitation we need a strategy t...Read More

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Labour exploitation and public procurement: Guide for risk management in national supply chains.
Guidance

Over the past decade, businesses have in many ways improved their efforts to pro- mote human rights through sustainability measures. Simultaneously, political interest in strengthening corporate social responsibility has increased along with un...Read More