UN experts urge shift towards human rights economy to prevent contemporary forms of slavery

“As we continue to rebuild and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, we must move on from the outdated notion that economic growth on its own is sufficient to address poverty and structural inequalities, key factors that enable contemporary forms of slavery.

The COVID-19 pandemic refuted this model, exposing how those facing discrimination prior to the pandemic were disproportionately affected, and continue to face a steeper road to recovery, including women and girls, who comprise over half of the nearly 50 million people subject to contemporary forms of slavery, a testament to enduring gender inequality. Such pre-existing vectors of inequality were exacerbated as millions of workers were pushed into unemployment or into the ever-expanding gig economy, with jobs characterised by casualty, precariousness, and a lack of social benefits – conditions ripe for contemporary forms of slavery, among other grave human rights violations.

This paradigm of unsustainable and unequal growth promotes a race to the bottom where workers are treated as a disposable commodity in the name of maximising profits. We must work instead towards the realisation of a human rights economy that places people and the planet at the heart of economic policies, investment decisions, consumer choices, and business models to enhance the enjoyment of human rights for all in the long term.

The transition towards a human rights economy requires the active engagement of the private sector. This is especially true of the technology sector and the transnational giants within this sector, given the outsize role these companies’ products and services play in our daily lives, in shaping global markets and policies, and enabling or inhibiting the expression of fundamental rights, including through preventing and facilitating contemporary forms of slavery.

A human rights economy must meet the Sustainable Development Goals’ imperative to “leave no one behind”, including those who have experienced or are at risk of contemporary forms of slavery. The UN Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery helps thousands of slavery survivors worldwide to receive essential services and supports civil society to combat and address these practices. Member States and companies should contribute to the Fund, to strengthen the anti-slavery movement.

As we prepare to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights next week, we reemphasise its absolute prohibition of slavery or servitude in all its forms. We must not let the call to “build back better” from the pandemic be empty rhetoric. We must heed the High Commissioner’s clarion call for a human rights economy if we are to achieve a world free of contemporary forms of slavery.”

See full statement here.