Coordinated action, including stronger supply chain due diligence measures, is required to eliminate modern slavery by 2030, according to a report by the Global Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking. The 2030 target is part of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but there are currently an estimated 50 million people trapped in slavery, generating profits of at least US$2336 billion annually. The report, due to be presented at a convening event at UN Headquarters in New York, calls on governments to mandate human rights due diligence in supply chains in line with UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, requiring firms to identify, prevent, and address risks of forced labour. Existing legislation, such as the UK’s Modern Slavery Act, has been criticised for weak enforcement mechanisms, which have led institutional investors to approach firms directly to seek their compliance with its reporting requirements. Other recommendations include strengthening domestic legislation and enforcement, integration of anti-slavery measures into responses to humanitarian crises, tougher monitoring and accountability among UN member states, and the establishment of a unified legal definition of modern slavery. The report also includes a new prevention framework for modern slavery and human trafficking, inspired by the Prevention of Genocide Framework created in 2014 by Adama Dieng, a former UN Under-secretary General. “Modern slavery and human trafficking remain the greatest human rights issue of our time yet, in recent years, it has dropped down the international agenda. While the world faces many challenges, this is a moral stain on humanity that we can – and must – address with far greater urgency and global collective action,” said Baroness Theresa May of Maidenhead, Chair of the Global Commission, which aims to exert high-level political leverage to restore momentum towards achieving UN SDG 8.7.
