Report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery

The present report is submitted by the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences, Urmila Bhoola, pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 33/1. It is her first report to the General Assembly following the renewal of her mandate in September 2016, at the thirty-third session of the Human Rights Council.

Since the thirty-third session of the Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur has participated in a wide range of international conferences and initiatives relating to the prevention and eradication of all contemporary forms of slavery. In September 2016, She attended a meeting on cooperation against contemporary forms of slavery convened by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and attended by other Heads of State, United Nations agencies and civil society experts on the margins of the seventy-first session of the General Assembly. During the meeting, the Special Rapporteur stressed the need for robust legal and institutional frameworks and coherence among legal and policy instruments. In addition, she discussed the importance of involving the business sector and the need to integrate the voice of victims into all slavery eradication efforts.

In December 2016, the Special Rapporteur participated in a panel at an event on child slavery with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Raad Al Hussein, and other stakeholders, convened by the United Nations voluntary trust fund on contemporary forms of slavery. The fund assists individuals whose human rights have been severely violated as a result of contemporary forms of slavery. It provides vital direct humanitarian, legal and financial assistance to victims through grants awarded to non-governmental organizations. Throughout the implementation of her mandate over the past year, the Special Rapporteur has worked in collaboration with the trust fund. She thanks the fund for its ongoing support for her work and encourages Member States to support its work.

In March 2017, the Special Rapporteur gave a presentation at the Security Council ministerial open debate on trafficking in persons in conflict situations, forced labour, slavery and other similar practices. She called for greater coordination and leadership against slavery and related phenomena and for Council members to ratify and implement international standards, as well as discussing the need to strengthen humanitarian responses to conflict situations and to increase national and international accountability for slavery-related human rights abuses in conflict.

During the past year, the Special Rapporteur has engaged with Alliance 8.7, a multi-stakeholder coalition committed to accelerating and intensifying action to achieve target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals, attending both the high-level launch, held in New York in September 2016, and a consultation on child labour and forced labour, held in Addis Ababa in June 2017.

The Special Rapporteur will present a thematic report on access to justice and remedy for victims of contemporary slavery at the thirty-sixth session of the Human Rights Council, in September 2017.¹

1. See A/HRC/36/43. ↩

Since her presentation to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-third session, the Special Rapporteur conducted a country visit to Paraguay between 17 and 24 July 2017. The purpose of the visit was to address the causes and consequences of contemporary forms of slavery in the country, identify good practices undertaken by the Government, investigate the challenges that Paraguay was facing relating to the issue of contemporary slavery and develop recommendations on how slavery eradication efforts could be accelerated. A report summarizing the visit will be made available to the General Assembly at its seventy-third session.

In addition, the Special Rapporteur visited Mauritania in April 2017 and will visit the Niger in August 2017, to conduct workshops to assess the implementation of the previous recommendations made by the mandate holder. Reports summarizing these workshops are and will be available on the website of the Special Rapporteur.

On 25 September 2015, at the United Nations summit for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda, the General Assembly endorsed an ambitious and wide-reaching development agenda, encapsulated in 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets. The comprehensive Goals, which encompass issues relating to poverty, education, gender equality, decent work and economic growth and reduced inequality, among others, seek to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. The development of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development succeeded the Millennium Development Goals, eight Goals set by the international community at the turn of the millennium and considered to be the most crucial development priorities.

The Sustainable Development Goals have the potential to accelerate the efforts being made to fully eradicate all contemporary forms of slavery. The 2030 Agenda includes a specific target on the eradication of slavery. Target 8.7, under Goal 8, to “promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all”. Furthermore, by including goals and targets relevant to the causes of slavery and access to justice, such as those relating to poverty, education, gender equality, decent work and economic growth and peace, justice and strong institutions, the 2030 Agenda offers the potential to guide action and resources towards the prevention of contemporary forms of slavery and the punishment of perpetrators of related human rights violations.

The Special Rapporteur considers the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, and target 8.7 in particular, to be fundamental to her mandate and plans to make her engagement on related issues a priority over the coming three years. The present report, which is based on desk-based research and country-based and thematic engagement by the Special Rapporteur, is intended as an overview of the topic of sustainable development and the eradication of contemporary forms of slavery and is a first step in her ongoing engagement on the issue.

In the present report, the Special Rapporteur will explore how the potential within this new development framework can be harnessed to accelerate efforts to eradicate all contemporary forms of slavery, broadly constituting all contemporary forms of slavery and slavery-like practices, in particular those defined in the Slavery Convention (1926) and the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery (1956). Such practices include, but are not limited to, traditional slavery, forced labour, debt bondage, serfdom, children working in slavery or slavery-like conditions, domestic servitude, sexual slavery and servile forms of marriage.²

2. See Human Rights Council resolution 33/1 and www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Slavery/SRSlavery/Pages/SRSlaveryIndex.aspx. ↩

The report begins with a discussion of how the continued prevalence of contemporary forms of slavery can, in many ways, be seen as a symptom of weakness in the efforts to achieve sustainable development, as well as the shortcomings of the Millennium Development Goals in relation to slavery eradication efforts. After conceptualizing contemporary forms of slavery, the Special Rapporteur discusses the key systemic socioeconomic trends that have contributed to the continued widespread prevalence of such extreme exploitation. The report continues with an analysis of the Sustainable Development Goals and a discussion of how, while flawed in some ways, the formulation of the 2030 Agenda and the inclusion of a specific target on slavery present a historic opportunity to leverage resources and political will to help to end all forms of contemporary forms of slavery. The Special Rapporteur then discusses the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, including multi-stakeholder initiatives such as Alliance 8.7, as well as issues of resource mobilization and how these can have an impact on the international community’s ability to maximize relevant opportunities vis-à-vis slavery eradication efforts.

The Special Rapporteur concludes by arguing that, while the Sustainable Development Goals represent a significant improvement on the Millennium Development Goals in relation to contemporary forms of slavery, the historic opportunity presented by the inclusion of target 8.7 will be lost unless sufficient resources can be mobilized to achieve all the Sustainable Development Goals as interdependent and intersecting outcomes. The Special Rapporteur stresses the importance of tackling socioeconomic trends that undermine sustainable development and enable extreme exploitation, alongside comprehensive national approaches to the full and effective eradication of contemporary forms of slavery. Lastly, the Special Rapporteur makes a series of recommendations to Member States and other stakeholders for the effective implementation of target 8.7 and the broader 2030 Agenda.

The 2030 Agenda builds upon the Millennium Development Goals by including a specific target to end “modern slavery”, as well as other forms of exploitation, and represents an important step forward in its inclusion of objectives related to the eradication of slavery in development frameworks. The very need for slavery to be included, however, is also indicative of the fact that, in 2015, contemporary forms of slavery continued to have an impact on the lives of millions of adults and children, despite sustained efforts to achieve sustainable development. Methodological constraints, limited data availability and questions on how exactly to define contemporary forms of slavery prevent a full understanding of exactly how many people live in such situations of extreme exploitation, although figures on forced labour from the International Labour Organization (ILO) from 2012, which include many contemporary forms of slavery and are considered the most accurate proxy measure, indicate that an estimated 21 million persons suffer from such abject exploitation.³

3. International Labour Office (ILO), Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour, ILO Global Estimate of Forced Labour: Results and methodology (Geneva, 2012). Available from www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/---declaration/documents/publication/wcms_182004.pdf. ↩

As referenced above, the Millennium Development Goals were time-bound goals, agreed upon by the international community at the turn of the millennium and formally endorsed by the General Assembly in 2005.⁴ The Goals addressed many issues relating to development, including hunger and extreme poverty, education, gender equality, maternal health and child mortality, communicable diseases, the environment and partnerships for achieving development. They received a high level of political commitment and were measured against a limited number of quantitative targets. For example, Goal 2, on achieving universal primary education, was measured against the target that, by 2015, all children everywhere, boys and girls alike, would be able to complete a full course of primary schooling. The Goals and targets, and the political commitment to them, led to significant resource mobilization and hence some successful results were achieved. For example, it is estimated that the population in the developing world living on less than $1.25 a day fell from nearly 50 to 14 per cent in 2015 and the primary school net enrolment rate in developing countries increased by 8 per cent from 83 per cent in 2000 to 91 per cent in 2015. Furthermore, the global under-5 mortality rate fell from 90 to 43 deaths per 1,000 live births between 1990 and 2015 and the maternal mortality ratio declined by 45 per cent worldwide over the same period.⁵

4. Claiming the Millennium Development Goals: A Human Rights Approach (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.08.XIV.6). ↩
5. United Nations, “The Millennium Development Goals report 2015: summary”, 2015. Available from www.un.org/millenniumgoals/2015_MDG_Report/pdf/MDG%202015%20Summary%20web_english.pdf. ↩

While such progress and the political consensus that formed around the Millennium Development Goals are commendable, the Millennium Development Goals framework had many weaknesses in its capacity to support efforts to eradicate slavery. First and foremost, the framework made no reference to contemporary forms of slavery, including forms affecting children, such as the worst forms of child labour. As both a cause and a consequence of underdevelopment, the omission of contemporary forms of slavery and related forms of exploitation was a serious weakness, resulting in measures to eradicate slavery often being excluded from mainstream development programmes.⁶

6. Aidan McQuade, “We can’t ignore slavery in the bid to lift millions out of poverty”, Guardian, 3 April 2013. Available from www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2013/apr/03/we-cannot-ignore-slavery-poverty. ↩

Despite the exclusion of explicit references to contemporary forms of slavery, the Millennium Development Goals still had the potential to tackle such phenomena. The Goals addressed many issues relevant to the root causes and consequences of contemporary forms of slavery, including extreme poverty, gender inequality, education and global partnerships for development. Broader weaknesses, however, had a serious impact. As has been criticized by many stakeholders, human rights dimensions were largely excluded from the development, implementation and monitoring of the Goals.⁷ The Goals had a narrow focus in relation to development, which excluded the role of civil and political rights in achieving development, and were characterized by technocratic targets to monitor and measure implementation. The Goals and targets did not take into account the fundamental human rights of all citizens by measuring equality or equity of development outcomes or mapping progress against the duties of the State under human rights treaties to progressively realize economic, social and cultural rights. In fact, the targets associated with certain Goals, such as halving the number of people living in extreme poverty, encouraged targeting those closest to the threshold needed to reach the target rather than reaching out to those most in need and ensuring the fulfilment of the related rights of all citizens. Victims of contemporary forms of slavery are invariably among the most vulnerable in society and they face multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, based on, among other things, gender, age, poverty, being perceived as being of low caste status, being of slave descent and belonging to indigenous communities. This vulnerability and the fact that such populations were all too often excluded from the successes of the Millennium Development Goals limited the extent to which the prevailing development framework could address the root causes and consequences of contemporary forms of slavery.

7. Claiming the Millennium Development Goals (United Nations publication). ↩

Furthermore, there are questions about the extent to which the Millennium Development Goals were able to encourage high-quality development outcomes that could have contributed to tackling the causes and consequences of contemporary forms of slavery. The targets associated with the Goals tended to quantify outcomes in a one-dimensional way and focus on absolute reductions in chosen measurements with very limited focus on the corresponding quality and impact. For example, while enrolment in primary education increased significantly under the Goals, and it is commonly cited as a key success story, there are reports of children in countries who achieved progress in this area finishing primary education functionally illiterate and thus still being deprived of their right to education. This is contrary to the human rights obligations of States to ensure good-quality primary education that is free and compulsory.⁸ In addition, the narrow focus of the Goals did not adequately address the structural and systemic shift of socioeconomic trends, discussed below, which undermine sustainable human development and enable contemporary forms of slavery to continue unabated.

8. Elaine Unterhalter, “Education targets, indicators and a post-2015 development agenda: education for all, the MDGs, and human development”, working paper series (May 2013); and United Nations, “Who will be accountable? Human rights and the post-2015 development agenda”, HR/PUB/13/1 (New York and Geneva, 2013). ↩

While it is difficult to say with authority what impact the exclusion of slavery and broader human rights concerns has had on the number of victims of contemporary forms of slavery, the available data do not present a positive picture of the progress made during the period of the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals. In 2005, ILO published its first global forced labour figures, estimating that, at a minimum, 12.3 million persons were in forced labour at any point in time in the period from 1995 to 2004. In 2012, when ILO published new estimates, the number was 21 million. Given the significant methodological differences in the estimates cited, the figures cannot be compared. The figures, however, leave no room for doubt that large numbers of people were victims of contemporary forms of slavery in the same period when significant resources and efforts were dedicated to implementing the Goals. The most recent data published by ILO also included 5.5 million children thought to be in situations of slavery, which is similar to an indicator included in the 2005 figures, highlighting the failure of the Goals to reduce contemporary forms of slavery among the most vulnerable victims.⁹

9. ILO, ILO Global Estimate of Forced Labour. ↩

The way in which the Millennium Development Goals were developed and conceptualized was also a missed opportunity to establish crucial links in the normative debates about slavery, human rights and systemic socioeconomic trends. The Goals had a profound impact on the development discourse and the fact that they did not include a discussion of contemporary forms of slavery meant that related debates failed to address the important interlinkages between the phenomenon and the causes and consequences of underdevelopment.

Viewing the continued prevalence of slavery as a symptom of the weakness of global efforts to achieve sustainable development allows us to look beyond the lens of individual vulnerability to contemporary forms of slavery and government responses to the phenomena and examine the systemic global socioeconomic trends that have significantly contributed to the way that such widespread exploitation has been able to flourish. Examining the trends helps us to understand why, despite the establishment in many countries of robust legal frameworks prohibiting contemporary forms of slavery and other measures to eradicate the phenomena, the scourge continues unabated. There are a number of such key trends, deeply interconnected and mutually reinforcing, and which are analysed below.

The time at which the Millennium Development Goals were developed and implemented can be characterized as a period of significant globalization. While there is no agreed definition of globalization, it refers to complex processes of integration of capital and global and labour markets fuelled by technological advancement.¹⁰ Such integration is not inherently detrimental and could, if governed correctly, have the potential to accelerate efforts to eradicate contemporary forms of slavery, for example, finding victims through technological advancements, increased information flows or mitigating risk factors for contemporary forms of slavery through orderly global migration channels. However, the globalization experience has been profoundly shaped by neo-liberal notions of political economy, which argue that markets unfettered by government oversight and control will encourage economic growth and wealth creation that in turn will bring trickle-down economic benefits for all members of society. This narrow free-market doctrine of economic development is characterized by support for reducing market regulation, trade and investment liberalization, cutting expenditure for social services and privatization of State-owned enterprises.

10. World Trade Organization, World Trade Report 2008: Trade in a Globalized World, “Globalization and Trade” p. 15. Available from www.wto.org/english/res_e/booksp_e/anrep_e/world_trade_report08_e.pdf. ↩

This form of globalization, characterized by adherence to neo-liberal economic principles and a lack of integration of human rights principles, has played a huge role in allowing widespread exploitation, including contemporary forms of slavery, to flourish, not least by driving demand for low-cost goods and services, promoting unsustainable consumption patterns, as well as allowing companies to have easier access to new markets and new sources of labour, this, which, in turn, has driven demand for cheaper labour, combined with weak regulatory frameworks. The race to the bottom to find the cheapest labour can mean that contemporary forms of slavery become a way for companies to, knowingly or unknowingly, gain a competitive advantage owing to the very low costs of such labour.¹¹ Such competitive advantage then, in turn, creates a powerful economic disincentive to the eradication of related forms of contemporary slavery. The cheap cost of travel and technological advancements that have accompanied globalization, such as mobile technology and widespread access to the Internet, have in some cases aided perpetrators of human rights violations in finding and trafficking victims into situations of slavery.

11. Oxfam International, “An economy for the 99%”, Oxfam briefing paper (January 2017). ↩

Data on the acquisition price of slaves from 2000 B.C. to 2004 suggest that globalization has reduced barriers to and encouraged contemporary forms of slavery. The analysis showed a steady decline in the price of slaves after World War II, which is characterized as a period of globalization, with prices being the lowest in history in the most recent years analysed.¹² As well as incentivizing enslavement, lowering the economic price that a slaveholder has to pay to enslave someone can also increase the subsequent level of exploitation and human rights abuses experienced by the victim. If the cost of replacing a slave is small, victims are seen as a low-value and disposable commodity and there is no economic incentive to take adequate care of their needs.

12. Kevin Bales, Ending Slavery: How We Free Today’s Slaves (Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California Press, 2007). p. 15. ↩

The significant cuts in government spending on social services in many countries, and the privatization of public goods that have characterized globalization have additionally impeded the capacity of States to tackle the causes and consequences of slavery through the provision of services that could prevent such exploitation, including education and social services, as well as of appropriate assistance to identified victims.

Poverty creates profound vulnerability to contemporary forms of slavery. There is a clear correlation between the poorest countries and those that have the highest prevalence of slavery. The only factor that dilutes this correlation is the fact that victims from low-income countries that experience extreme poverty can be trafficked into situations of slavery in more developed countries.¹³ While extreme poverty declined significantly under the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, progress was not enjoyed equally across regions, countries and groups within different societies. This has meant that all too often the most vulnerable, including those living in isolated rural areas, children and women and indigenous communities, are excluded from the gains made in poverty reduction. This leaves them without reliable access to the necessary means to meet their needs, including food, water, shelter, medical services and clothes.

13. Ibid. ↩

The despair created by the inability to meet basic needs can make people extremely vulnerable to contemporary forms of slavery. They are more likely to accept offers of employment that lead to situations of debt bondage or other forms of forced labour and domestic servitude. As highlighted in the report by the Special Rapporteur to the Human Rights Council in 2016, bonded labourers are frequently reported to live in situations of poverty that are sustained through generations. The majority are trapped in debt bondage because the only way that they can obtain the credit needed to meet basic needs or react to adverse life events is to take funds that are tied to deeply exploitative labour situations from employers or recruiters.¹⁴ 14 Poverty can also create vulnerability to other forms of contemporary slavery. Families experiencing extreme poverty are more likely to allow or force their children into the worst forms of child labour and/or coerce and force young girls into situations of forced and servile marriage in order to obtain a dowry payment. For example, when the Special Rapporteur visited the Niger, the country with the highest proportion of child marriage in the world, she noted that the phenomenon was highest among girls who were the least educated, poorest and living in rural areas.¹⁵ 15 The Special Rapporteur has also found during a number of her country visits, including to 12 Kevin Bales, Ending Slavery: How We Free Today’s Slaves (Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California Press, 2007). p. 15. 13 Ibid. 14 See A/HRC/33/46. 15 See A/HRC/30/35/Add.1. 10/21 El Salvador, Ghana and the Niger, that poverty is a root cause of the worst forms of child labour.¹⁶ Increasing global inequality

14. See A/HRC/33/46. ↩
15. See A/HRC/30/35/Add.1. ↩
16. Ibid.; see also A/HRC/33/46/Add.1. ↩

Global inequality has reached staggering levels. It was estimated that, in 2015, the richest 1 per cent of the world’s population owned 50 per cent of global wealth.¹⁷ A report by Oxfam International further exemplified the severity of global inequality by indicating that a senior corporate executive at a company traded on the London Stock Exchange earns the equivalent to the annual wages of 10,000 people working in garment factories in Bangladesh.¹⁸

17. Markus Stierli and others, “Global wealth report 2015” (Zurich, Credit Suisse, 2015). ↩
18. Oxfam International, “An economy for the 99%”. ↩

Such profound and systemic inequality shows that the systemic design of our economies, as shaped by neo-liberal globalization, is not allowing the benefits of economic growth to be shared between people within societies. Inequality also has an impact on the way that actors within the value and supply chains of products and services benefit, with those at the top increasingly taking a larger share of the profits. The research by Oxfam International referenced above showed how, in the 1980s, cocoa farmers received 18 per cent of the value of a chocolate bar, whereas today they receive just 6 per cent.¹⁹ While inequality is everywhere, trends suggest that inequality in lower-income and middle-income countries can be more extreme than in high-income countries.²⁰

19. Ibid. ↩
20. World Bank, Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2016: Taking on Inequality (Washington, D.C., 2016). ↩

This type of unfettered inequality is self-perpetuating, as the wealthy are far better able than other members of society to gain access to opportunities for investment and further wealth creation. Such elites are also in a position to capture public legislative and policy development processes to serve their own interests, which further entrenches their advantage in economic and social systems and simultaneously creates structures that limit upward social mobility for people in the lower classes. This process of co-opting State mechanisms by elites to serve their own interests can be particularly pronounced in countries that have high levels of corruption.

Inequality contributes specifically to the continued widespread existence of contemporary forms of slavery. Inequality creates significant barriers to the most vulnerable within society preventing them from finding ways out of deeply exploitative situations where they have no protection. Such structures also undermine the equity of development outcomes, which in turn significantly undermines efforts to prevent contemporary forms of slavery by addressing their root causes, such as poverty, lack of education, illiteracy and lack of access to decent work opportunities. For example, the World Bank estimates that the poorest children in developing countries are four times less likely than the richest children to be enrolled in primary education.²¹ This polarization of outcomes means that the most poor and vulnerable will find it difficult to gain access to the services and support that can help them to avoid or escape situations of slavery. Furthermore, there is a strong correlation between countries that have high levels of corruption and those that have the highest prevalence of slavery.²² 22 Such corruption allows slaveholders to collude with government officials and police forces to evade laws that protect the rights of victims. 16 Ibid.; see also A/HRC/33/46/Add.1. 17 Markus Stierli and others, “Global wealth report 2015” (Zurich, Credit Suisse, 2015). 18 Oxfam International, “An economy for the 99%”. 19 Ibid. 20 World Bank, Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2016: Taking on Inequality (Washington, D.C., 2016). 21 Ibid. 22 Bales, Ending Slavery: How We Free Today’s Slaves.

21. Ibid. ↩
22. Bales, Ending Slavery: How We Free Today’s Slaves. ↩

Global inequality has also been established as a major source of social instability and conflict by institutions including the World Economic Forum and the World Bank.²³ Social instability and conflict can create vulnerability to specific forms of slavery and related exploitation, as has been reflected in the information that the Special Rapporteur has received when she has conducted fact-finding visits to countries. For example, when she visited El Salvador, a country experiencing a period of significant social instability, she received information about how women, girls and young boys were subjected to slavery-like practices in situations of localized gang violence, such as sexual subjugation and forced recruitment into gangs and criminal activities.²⁴ When visiting Nigeria, she received information about the sexual enslavement of women and girls at the hands of Boko Haram during the period of internal conflict, which is discussed further in paragraph 39 below.²⁵

23. World Economic Forum, Global Risks 2012, 7th ed. (Geneva, 2012); Oxfam International, “An economy for the 99%”. ↩
24. See A/HRC/33/46/Add.1. ↩
25. See A/HRC/32/32/Add.2. ↩

According to ILO, decent work is characterized by opportunities for work that are productive and provide a fair income, security in the workplace and social protection for families, better prospects for personal development and social integration, freedom for people to express their concerns, organize and participate in the decisions that affect their lives and equality of opportunity and treatment for all women and men. Decent work is a powerful protection against contemporary forms of slavery, it can alleviate poverty and provide security for people, allowing them to meet basic and other needs. Decent work also creates conditions under which workers can unionize and protect themselves and others against contemporary forms of slavery and other human rights abuses.

Global trends have shown significant and sustained deficits in decent work, resulting in both higher unemployment and extremely high levels of precarious work. According to ILO, in 2017, 201.1 million people will be unemployed.²⁶ With the figure expected to rise in 2018. While economic conditions are expected to improve moderately, leading to new job creation, the number of people entering the workforce is predicted to increase more swiftly, leaving an additional 2.7 million people unemployed.²⁷ Workers in vulnerable forms of employment are typically subject to high levels of precariousness, having limited access to the contributory social protection schemes that tend to be more common among waged and salaried workers. ILO published figures in 2017 estimating that a staggering 1.4 billion people will be in precarious forms of employment; this figure is expected to grow by 11 million per year in the coming years.²⁸ Vulnerable employment has an impact on those in developing countries most significantly, affecting 4 out of 5 workers.²⁹

26. ILO, World Employment Social Outlook: Trends 2017 (Geneva, 2017). ↩
27. Ibid. ↩
28. Ibid. ↩
29. Ibid. ↩

Such shocking deficits in decent work are being driven by key trends. Increasing global integration has caused significant restructuring of national labour markets as Governments have responded to the needs of foreign investors rather than to national imperatives linked to the labour and human rights of all citizens. Other recent trends include the global financial and economic crises that began in 2008, reducing employment opportunities, the steady decline of, and attacks against, freedom of association and collective bargaining, weakening regulation of the labour market and 23 World Economic Forum, Global Risks 2012, 7th ed. (Geneva, 2012); Oxfam International, “An economy for the 99%”. 24 See A/HRC/33/46/Add.1. 25 See A/HRC/32/32/Add.2. 26 ILO, World Employment Social Outlook: Trends 2017 (Geneva, 2017). 27 Ibid. 28 Ibid. 29 Ibid. 12/21 increasing competition for decent work opportunities as a result of the growth of the labour force.³⁰ Weak labour regulations

30. International Trade Union Confederation, “The 2017 ITUC global rights index: the world’s worst countries for workers”, 2017; ILO, World Employment Social Outlook. ↩

As discussed above, globalization has been characterized by an adherence to neo-liberal economic doctrines, which advocate a roll-back of government control over economic markets in order to facilitate growth as the primary measure of economic success. This has led to a significant degree of deregulation in different countries, including in relation to labour market management. The increasingly integrated nature of the global economy means that multinational companies have the ability to move operations abroad depending on the attractiveness of the regulatory framework in relation to profit maximization.³¹ Countries, in particular lower-income countries, often seek to attract foreign direct investment as a means by which to facilitate growth, which is seen as the primary measure of economic success within neo-liberal economic doctrines. This can create a race to the bottom where countries aggressively deregulate in order to have the most attractive conditions for investment. This places companies in a strong bargaining position whereby they can encourage deregulation, including of the labour market, before investing in the relevant country. A lack of labour market regulation strips workers of their labour rights, leaving them increasingly vulnerable to contemporary forms of slavery. Weak labour market protection is often accompanied by limited labour inspectorates, which also reduces the ability of government officials to detect cases of slavery and take appropriate action.

31. Tessa Khan, Delivering Development Justice? Financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Discussion Paper, No. 10 (New York, UN-Women, 2016). ↩

The causes and consequences of the socioeconomic trends described above are not gender-neutral. Socioeconomic discrimination and exclusion of women are systemic, profound and manifested in different ways. Poverty can have a disproportionate impact on women and girls as they face competing pressures to undertake time-consuming unpaid domestic and care work and contribute to their family income. In a time when the capacity of the State to provide social protection has been significantly cut, economies have become more reliant on the work provided by women as caregivers to maintain a competitive advantage, but provide no economic reward for it. This makes women more vulnerable to poverty.³² Another manifestation of such economic exclusion and discrimination is that girls are significantly more likely to be out of school than boys. Girls are 1.5 times more likely than boys to be excluded from primary school.³³ A lack of access to decent work opportunities is another way that women are vulnerable to the adverse effects of the global socioeconomic realities that are enabling the systemic exploitation of people on a shocking scale. Women in many countries have significantly lower participation in the labour market; the World Bank calculated a global average of 50 per cent female participation in 2014 compared with 77 per cent for men.³⁴ Women who do participate in the workforce are often paid less than men for the same work, are more vulnerable to harassment and work-based discrimination, are more likely to be in precarious situations of employment and are overrepresented within clerical and service-based roles.³⁵

32. Ibid. ↩
33. See http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/reducing-global-poverty-through-universal-primary-secondary-education.pdf. ↩
34. World Bank, Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2016. ↩
35. ILO, World Employment Social Outlook; see also E/CN.6/2017/3. ↩

The negative impacts of these socioeconomic trends on women contribute significantly to their increased vulnerability to contemporary forms of slavery. Women are overrepresented in the 21 million people estimated by ILO to be enslaved, accounting for around 55 per cent of victims.³⁶ The Special Rapporteur has seen the vulnerability of women and girls when making country visits, even when the context and modalities of contemporary forms of slavery differ significantly. For example, when she visited north-east Nigeria in February 2016 with the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health and the Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, she heard first-hand from children who were trafficked, enslaved and forced into domestic and sexual servitude by Boko Haram. Many of the girls had children after they were forced to marry their abductors, but are ostracized for suspected radicalization and their children are despised for being of “bad blood”.³⁷ In April 2016, when she visited El Salvador, she received information about women and girls enslaved by gangs, threatened with extreme violence in order to make them comply with heinous forms of sexual exploitation and women working as home-based workers, performing embroidery work for companies under oppressive conditions to meet quotas and targets in order to be paid.³⁸ In addition, when she visited the Niger, she received information about women and girls, often of slave descent, who were subject to forced and servile marriage through the wahaya, or fifth wife, practice.³⁹

36. ILO, World Employment Social Outlook. ↩
37. See A/HRC/32/32/Add.2. ↩
38. See A/HRC/33/46/Add.1. ↩
39. See A/HRC/30/35/Add.1. ↩

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development presents an opportunity for the international community to respond to these socioeconomic trends and increase development efforts to tackle contemporary forms of slavery, its causes and consequences. The 2030 Agenda goes far beyond the Millennium Development Goals, both in relation to contemporary forms of slavery and a more generalized respect for, and promotion of, human rights principles and frameworks. Given the extent to which Goals were able to influence the sustainable development discourse and the mobilization of resources, these advancements have great potential. It is in this respect that the 2030 Agenda represents a historic opportunity that Member States, the international community, the business community and other stakeholders must seek to maximize.

The first way in which the 2030 Agenda improves upon the Millennium Development Goals in relation to contemporary forms of slavery is its inclusion of target 8.7, “take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms”. The issue of contemporary forms of slavery was not a priority at the beginning of the three-year consultative process that preceded the adoption of the Goals and, as discussed above, was not included in the Millennium Development Goals. Its inclusion as a specific target followed sustained advocacy efforts, initiated in 2007, by a number of actors. The Special Rapporteur commends these efforts and the responsiveness of the consultative process in this respect. The historic inclusion of this specific target has the potential to ensure resource 35 ILO, World Employment Social Outlook; see also E/CN.6/2017/3. 36 ILO, World Employment Social Outlook. 37 See A/HRC/32/32/Add.2. 38 See A/HRC/33/46/Add.1. 39 See A/HRC/30/35/Add.1. 14/21 mobilization to advance slavery eradication efforts and develop normative links between policy dialogues on contemporary forms of slavery and development.

Furthermore, that the 2030 Agenda is explicitly grounded in human rights standards and the establishment of the responsibilities of States to respect, protect and promote human rights will increase the ability of the prevailing development framework to respond to the causes and consequences of contemporary forms of slavery. The 2030 Agenda was adopted through General Assembly resolution 70/1, in paragraph 10 of which it is stated:
The new Agenda is guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, including full respect for international law. It is grounded in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, international human rights treaties, the Millennium Declaration and the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document. It is informed by other instruments such as the Declaration on the Right to Development.

In paragraph 18, it is stated that the Agenda is “to be implemented in a manner that is consistent with the rights and obligations of States under international law.” It was also stated in the preamble that the 2030 Agenda aimed to “realize the human rights of all” and in paragraph 19 emphasis was laid on “the responsibilities of all States … to respect, protect and promote human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction of any kind as to race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, disability or other status”.

The stronger commitment to human rights principles and standards outlined in the 2030 Agenda is also reflected in the contents of the Goals and targets. The number of economic, social and cultural issues reflected in the Goals and targets is much larger and less selective, for example, the inclusion of many civil and political rights issues in Goal 16 on peaceful and inclusive societies. Furthermore, the targets more closely reflect corresponding human rights standards. For example, in contrast to the narrow measurement of the Millennium Development Goal on education, discussed above in paragraph 19, Sustainable Development Goal 4, on quality education, is measured using targets and indicators that address issues relating to availability, accessibility, affordability and quality.

The 2030 Agenda also builds upon the framework of the Millennium Development Goals in relation to its ability to contribute by making a strong commitment to combating inequalities and discrimination, as reflected in the overall commitment to “leave no one behind”, as well as in the contents of the Goals, with both the inclusion of Goal 5, achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, and Goal 10, reduce inequalities within and among countries. The Sustainable Development Goals also reflect human rights norms and principles in that they are established as indivisible and interconnected throughout resolution 70/1. The resolution also provides protection for vulnerable groups, including women and girls, children, persons with disabilities, people living with HIV/AIDS, older persons, indigenous peoples, refugees and internally displaced persons.

These developments, in relation to the general ability of the Sustainable Development Goals framework to make a contribution to the universal implementation of human rights, also have the potential to bolster efforts to eradicate contemporary forms of slavery. Conceptualizing the Goals relating to gender equality and education in a human rights-compliant way increases their potential to significantly reduce vulnerability to contemporary forms of slavery. The inclusion of targets related to access to justice within Goal 16, on peace, justice and strong institutions also offers the possibility that the implementation of the Goals can contribute to redressing human rights abuses relating to contemporary forms of slavery. As will be outlined in the thematic report by the Special Rapporteur to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-sixth session, access to justice and remedy for victims of contemporary forms of slavery is an essential component of efforts to eradicate the phenomena. Effective access to justice and remedy helps the process of rehabilitation and reintegration of victims, prevents revictimization and can create disincentives to future violations among those who may seek to ruthlessly exploit vulnerable individuals. Furthermore, the inclusion of Goals, such as Goal 1 (end poverty), Goal 5 (achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls), Goal 8 (promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all) and Goal 10 (reduce inequality within and among countries) has the potential to address the socioeconomic drivers of the contemporary forms of slavery discussed above.

This is not to say that the Sustainable Development Goals are perfect, neither in relation to human rights nor to contemporary forms of slavery. In relation to the latter, while the inclusion of the catch-all term “modern slavery” in target 8.7 allows for a broad interpretation of what is expected of States and other actors, the inclusion of the target under Goal 8, on decent work and economic growth creates the risk that traditional forms of slavery will be secondary to labour market violations in implementation efforts. In addition, the vulnerability of persons of slave descent was not recognized in the sustainable development framework in the same way as that of other minority groups.

There are weaknesses and gaps in relation to the broader ability of the Goals to tackle the causes and consequences of contemporary slavery through improved adherence to human rights norms and principles. For example, human rights language is not integrated into the Goals. In addition, the vulnerability of minorities is not explicitly addressed in the same way as that of other groups. Also, how to ensure policy coherence and indivisibility, as well as protection against the risk that the implementation of Goals will have adverse secondary effects on human rights, is not effectively articulated. Nevertheless, the specific inclusion of a target on slavery and broader improvements in relation to human rights in the 2030 Agenda are a cause for celebration and provide a historic opportunity for Member States, the international community, businesses and other stakeholders to further efforts to fully eradicate contemporary forms of slavery.

The 2030 Agenda is ambitious and far-reaching. It raises serious questions, however, about the availability of capacity and resources to implement its Goals and targets. Estimates have suggested that an amount of between $3 trillion and $5 trillion needs to be mobilized to effectively finance the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.⁴⁰ It is vital that the resources be allocated in full so that the Goals and targets are all implemented successfully as interdependent, mutually reinforcing and interlinked development outcomes, as none can be achieved in a vacuum from the others. States and other stakeholders must avoid cherry-picking those that are the easiest and most politically expedient for them to implement, as a group of special procedures experts warned in a press release published in July 2016.⁴¹ It is essential that States and other actors align the financing for the 2030 Agenda with their obligations under international law to allocate the maximum available resources to the progressive realization of economic, social and cultural rights. Policy coherence between the action taken to implement different goals, as well as the initiatives to implement the 2030 Agenda and related policy areas, including those on trade and investment, border management and migration, must also be achieved. It is therefore necessary for States, the private sector, donors and the international community to work together to mobilize the resources needed in order to avoid selectivity in relation to the targets and thus ensure the overall success of the implementation of the Agenda and the maximization of its potential to fully eradicate contemporary forms of slavery.

40. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, “UNCTAD: investing in Sustainable Development Goals: part 1 — action plan for private investments in SDGs” (Geneva, 2015). ↩
41. See www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=20262#sthash.NJFbdQo3.dpuf. ↩

As established in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, the development financing plan agreed upon by States ahead of the formal endorsement of the 2030 Agenda, States bear the primary responsibility for financing development within their own countries, including the implementation of target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals. It is recognized that States have different capacities and constraints when it comes to achieving the Goals and many countries face a challenging fiscal environment. There are many ways, however, that countries can mobilize more resources for development, human rights and the full and effective eradication of contemporary forms of slavery. Governments worldwide are estimated to lose $3.1 trillion annually to tax evasion, equivalent to about half of the world’s total expenditure on health care.⁴² Furthermore, it is estimated that between $21 trillion and $32 trillion sits in offshore tax havens.⁴³ The impact that such resources could have on development, human rights and the full and effective eradication of contemporary forms of slavery is profound. Tackling corruption and tax evasion is essential in both developing and higher-income countries. Developing countries can be highly vulnerable to the loss of tax revenue. The amount lost is proportionally high relative to the amount being spent on public services and such countries often have low tax bases, owing to inefficiencies in policies and systems, and in many cases, a significant degree of their labour market falling within the informal sector. If all developing countries could mobilize just 15 per cent of their national income as tax revenue, an additional $198 billion in revenue could be secured and utilized to implement the goals relating to sustainable development.⁴⁴ Tax evasion also takes resources from high-income countries that lose more in absolute terms. Given the increasingly constrained fiscal environment conditioned by neo-liberal economic doctrines and the financial and economic crash of 2008, as well as severe inequality in many countries, these are precious resources that could contribute to improved social protection floors for the most vulnerable, which can include victims of contemporary forms of slavery, and/or providing additional official development assistance to developing countries.

42. See HR/PUB/13/1. ↩
43. Khan, Delivering Development Justice. ↩
44. See HR/PUB/13/1. ↩

Another resource trap that is likely to significantly divert resources away from the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and undermine policy coherence in relation to sustainable development is sovereign debt. The proportion of government revenue that is spent on foreign debt payments is significant. For example, in 2015, El Salvador and Jamaica spent 18 and 20 per cent, respectively, on debt payments because they do not meet the criteria for debt-relief schemes.⁴⁵ Regular external payments divert significant resources away from developing and middleincome countries that could be spent on public services and development programmes. Governments also regularly respond to external debt crises through cuts and freezes in public sector spending, austerity programmes and the rationalization of social protection floors, including, for example, health care and minimum wage provisions. 42 See HR/PUB/13/1. 43 Khan, Delivering Development Justice. 44 See HR/PUB/13/1. 45 Khan, Delivering Development Justice.

45. Khan, Delivering Development Justice. ↩

Governments should also consider the issue of military spending. Global military spending in 2016 is estimated to have increased by 0.4 per cent to $1.69 trillion.⁴⁶ Considering options for global disarmament and the redistribution of funds for the implementation of the Goals could significantly advance the 2030 Agenda not only through resource mobilization, but also through its contribution to strengthening universal peace.

46. See www.sipri.org/research/armament-and-disarmament/arms-transfers-and-military-spending/military-expenditure. ↩

While the primary responsibility for the implementation of the Goals rests with national Governments, the private sector and donors have an important role to play in providing and mobilizing resources. Businesses played a strong role in the development of the Goals, including through a high-level panel that allowed companies to participate in the consultative process. Accordingly, expectations are high for the role of the private sector in the implementation of the Goals. Furthermore, awareness in the private sector of the Goals is significant; research conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers found that 92 per cent of businesses surveyed were aware of the Goals, compared with 33 per cent of citizens.⁴⁷ However, the same survey also suggested a lack of consensus on the implementation of the Goals, preference between Goals and a lack of willingness to engage on issues that were not aligned with their corporate interests. There was a readiness among the businesses surveyed to cherry-pick the Goals that did not fit into their corporate priorities or pushed them outside their comfort zone. Goal 8 on decent work and economic growth, which includes target 8.7, was ranked highest among those surveyed both in terms of perceived impact of businesses on the Goal and on how the Goal could constitute a business opportunity.⁴⁸ The Special Rapporteur is of the opinion that the business sector has much to offer in the implementation of target 8.7 and in broader slavery eradication efforts. It is essential, however, that private sector actors ensure respect for human rights in both their contributions to the 2030 Agenda and to broader business activities. Such a holistic and rights-based approach is in line with the obligations of businesses under pillar II of the corporate responsibility to respect human rights and other relevant principles of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework.⁴⁹

47. PwC, “Make it your business: engaging with the Sustainable Development Goals”, 2015. ↩
48. Ibid. ↩
49. A/HRC/17/31, annex. ↩

The successful implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the achievement of its potential in relation to eradicating contemporary forms of slavery are not just about the availability of capacity and resources. A significant degree of political will is needed to challenge the implicit and explicit power structures that often support the continuing prevalence of contemporary forms of slavery. The complexities of balancing resources and input from different stakeholders, ensuring overall policy coherence in related policies and programmes and galvanizing the political will to challenge implicit and explicit power structures require international coordination, cooperation and leadership.

In response, multi-stakeholder initiatives have emerged to galvanize support and resources for particular Goals and targets. An example is Alliance 8.7, a global partnership committed to taking immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, modern slavery, trafficking in persons and child labour, in accordance with target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals. Alliance 8.7 aims to bring together a range of stakeholders, including Governments, the United Nations, the business sector and civil society to accelerate action on target 8.7, conduct research and share knowledge, drive innovation and increase and leverage resources. The Alliance has only recently been set up, but the Special Rapporteur intends to continue her engagement with it and encourages all relevant stakeholders to do likewise and support its work. The Special Rapporteur is also aware of other multi-stakeholder alliances to support the implementation of the Goals, such as the Global Partnership to End Violence against Children, the goal of which is to implement target 16.2 of the Sustainable Development Goals. Such initiatives have a significant role to play in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. There is, however, a concern that the way that such initiatives are emerging in response to specific targets could create fragmentation in the implementation efforts and allow for cherry-picking of Goals.

Ending all forms of contemporary forms of slavery and achieving target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals require a multifaceted approach, including the development of comprehensive national responses to contemporary forms of slavery, which should combine the effective rule of law, comprehensive national legal frameworks, robust institutional and policy frameworks, the prohibition and elimination of discrimination, effective child protection, strong labour market protection and regulation, effective oversight of the business sector and full and equitable access to justice.

In order for national approaches to slavery eradication to be effective, they must also be rooted in the successful achievement of sustainable development based upon universal respect for human rights norms and principles. While national legislative and policy measures to end contemporary forms of slavery are very important, they will not be effective in eradicating all contemporary forms of slavery if the systemic, structural and global socioeconomic trends that enable its widespread prevalence are not addressed. Ending contemporary forms of slavery is therefore an integral part of the broader struggle to combat poverty, underdevelopment and gender inequality and achieve human rights-based development and justice for all.

Advancement towards the full and effective implementation of human rights-based sustainable development does not necessarily require a reversal of globalization. Increasing global integration has the potential to support efforts to ensure the full eradication of all forms of contemporary slavery and such advancement. However, fundamental shifts in the way that Governments regulate the processes that contribute to globalization are needed to counter the negative socioeconomic trends and make progress towards these goals. These shifts must be towards a model of global governance based upon equality, freedom from poverty, effective access to decent work, gender parity, and, above all else, respect for the fundamental human rights of all citizens.

To tackle the socioeconomic drivers of contemporary forms of slavery to achieve target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals and implement the 2030 Agenda, Member States should:
(a) Take immediate steps towards addressing inequality as part of efforts to effectively implement Sustainable Development Goal 10, on reducing inequalities within and between countries;
(b) Accelerate efforts to put an end to poverty in line with Sustainable Development Goal l, on ending poverty;
(c) Work with ILO, the business sector and other partners to develop new opportunities for decent work, as part of the efforts to implement Sustainable Development Goal 8, on economic growth and decent work for all;
(d) Ensure that labour regulation systems are adequate to protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments in line with efforts to fully and effectively implement Goal 8;
(e) Increase and strengthen measures to accelerate progress towards gender parity and empowerment of women and girls in line with Sustainable Development Goal 5, on gender equality;
(f) Ensure policy coherence between all efforts to tackle the socioeconomic drivers of contemporary forms of slavery as part of the full and effective implementation of the Goals and other areas of related policy, including trade and investment, migration and border management;
(g) Establish comprehensive national approaches to the full and effective eradication of contemporary forms of slavery to achieve target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals;
(h) Establish national systems of rule of law that protect the human rights of all people, administered by competent judges, prosecutors and law enforcement officers who are trained in eradicating contemporary forms of slavery;
(i) Ensure that contemporary forms of slavery are criminalized as specific crimes within national legal frameworks, with penalties commensurate with the crimes;
(j) Develop robust institutional and policy frameworks that ensure the effective implementation of laws that criminalize all contemporary forms of slavery;
(k) Take all steps necessary to tackle the root causes and manifestations of discrimination against minority groups who are vulnerable to contemporary forms of slavery, including women, children, indigenous peoples, people perceived as being of low caste status and migrant workers, as another fundamental part of the effective implementation of Goal 10;
(l) Enact measures to uphold the rights of children and protect them from child labour and enslavement, including sexual exploitation, forced recruitment as child soldiers, forced marriage, forced begging and domestic servitude;
(m) Remove constraints on establishing democratic trade unions and ensure that the rights of workers and human rights defenders to freely associate are consistently upheld;
(n) Establish and enforce robust national systems of professional labour inspection to identify cases of contemporary forms of slavery;
(o) Develop effective oversight of businesses, including by establishing clear and effective supply-chain transparency requirements that can facilitate the detection and remedy of contemporary forms of slavery;
(p) Explicitly prohibit fraudulent and abusive recruitment practices that are one of the main causes of contemporary forms of slavery in supply chains and adopt measures to regulate recruitment;
(q) Develop a comprehensive and multifaceted approach to ensuring that victims of contemporary forms of slavery can have access to justice and remedy for harm suffered, in line with the recommendations made by the Special Rapporteur in her thematic report to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-sixth session.

To achieve international coordination and cooperation on target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, Member States should also:
(a) Engage actively with, and provide technical and financial support to, Alliance 8.7 in order to support the effective implementation of target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals;
(b) Develop robust resource mobilization strategies to ensure that the necessary resources are available to invest in the implementation of Goal 8 and all the Sustainable Development Goals. Such strategies should consider options for tackling tax evasion, reviewing military spending and increasing debt relief;
(c) Ensure policy coherence and coordination between the multi-stakeholder initiatives developed to support the full and effective implementation of the Goals;
(d) Invest in developing indicators as part of effective, participatory and transparent monitoring and evaluation systems to monitor implementation of Goal 8, including target 8.7, and all the other Goals and targets.

United Nations agencies should:
(a) Facilitate cooperation and coordination between multi-stakeholder initiatives to implement the targets of the Goals;
(b) Ensure that effective programmes are in place to address the socioeconomic trends that undermine sustainable development and enable contemporary forms of slavery;
(c) Support countries in developing national action plans for the implementation of the Goals, including Goal 8 and target 8.7, including clear plans for the mobilization of adequate resources;
(d) Develop specific in-country programmes to ensure the effective implementation of the Goals, including Goal 8 and target 8.7.

The private sector should:
(a) Make financial, resource and leadership contributions to the implementation of the Goals, including Goal 8 and target 8.7;
(b) Ensure full respect for human rights in the context of contributing to the Goals. They should take a human rights-based approach to implementation and avoid cherry-picking the targets to which they contribute;
(c) Ensure, as a core part of their contributions to the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals, full respect for human rights standards in all their business activities as established under pillar II of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. In particular relevance to contemporary forms of slavery and achieving target 8.7, businesses should establish continuous human rights due diligence in all business activities within their supply chains;
(d) Engage actively, alongside Member States, with Alliance 8.7. They should make substantive, financial and resource contributions to Alliance 8.7 to ensure an active contribution to the successful implementation of target 8.7.

Donors should:
(a) Take a human rights-based approach to providing support for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals including ensuring human rights due diligence in relation to all projects that are funded;
(b) Ensure that slavery eradication, as a fundamental part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, is prioritized within sustainable development programmes and initiatives;
(c) Support programmes that tackle the socioeconomic trends that undermine the achievement of human rights-based sustainable development and enable contemporary forms of slavery;
(d) Actively engage with and provide support to Alliance 8.7, as well as other multi-stakeholder initiatives designed to facilitate effective implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

Civil society organizations should:
(a) Develop programmes and broader efforts to implement Goal 8, target 8.7 and the broader Goals;
(b) Contribute to Alliance 8.7 and other multi-stakeholder initiatives designed to ensure the implementation of the Goals.