Brazil is the world’s leading coffee producer. It’s also a world leader in progressive legislation guaranteeing basic rights and human dignity for workers. Unfortunately, thanks in part to a number of high profile prosecutions by the country’s authorities, it’s become clear that there is both a real need and deep support to combat forced labor in Brazil’s coffee fields. With funding from the United States Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Human Trafficking, GFEMS is supporting partners in this fight.
The project, Comprehensive Action Towards Forced Labor Eradication (CAFE), has two activity streams:
1. Establish a grievance mechanism that will allow workers to report instances of abuse.
2. Develop a machine-learning powered decision support tool, which will help authorities better target raids and other enforcement actions.
Often, labor irregularities can escalate to more serious violations, including human rights abuses. Thus, grievance mechanisms are important tools for workers to get help and prevent escalation. However, complaint channels usually lack the necessary accessibility, transparency, legitimacy, and trust that push workers to come forward.
Nossa Voz (“Our Voice”) aims to fill in these gaps while being built upon the UN Guiding Principles criteria, the OECD Guidelines on the development of operational-level grievance mechanisms, and on an extensive process of local consultation. Nossa Voz relies on the technical support of a national worker organization in Brazil that will provide assistance to the complainant and producer to find a solution for each case.
But a grievance mechanism alone is not enough. For real success, workers need to be aware of it and empowered to use it. We’ve partnered with Instituto Trabalho Decente (ITD) to work in municipalities with high levels of social vulnerability and where people are recruited for oft-exploitative seasonal coffee work. ITD is strengthening public policy, building capacity of local unions, and engaging workers to lay the groundwork for Nossa Voz and otherwise guarantee workers’ rights.
The Human Trafficking Data Lab at Stanford University is working with Brazil’s Federal Labor Prosecutor’s Office (FLPO) to create a Decision Support Tool powered by machine learning. The tool will provide rapid, evidence-based analytics on which cases have the greatest trafficking risk, critical time sensitivities, and opportunities to bundle inspections by trafficking ‘nodes’ or ‘clusters.’ Overall, the tool will help authorities act more efficiently and effectively. The tool draws on a vast pool of administrative data, including outcomes from 5,500 trafficking investigations that involved over 40,000 survivors and thousands of related firms. Stanford and the FLPO are working in lockstep to ensure the tool integrates with their existing systems and processes.
CAFE is delivered by talented and deeply connected organizations in Brazil.
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Individuals working in coffee estates in Brazil can now become more aware of their rights and access a helpline where they can ask broad questions about the work within the estates, lodge their complaints regarding the work and their experiences, and find a fair solution to their issues. Grievance mechanisms are key in the realization of due diligence. Protecting the workers in coffee estates in Brazil is the core objective of implementing Nossa Voz (Our Voice) in Brazil, which is a pilot initiative led by the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery (GFEMS) through a grant from the U.S. Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.
Nossa Voz is a grievance mechanism tool which aims to be a preventative approach and an early warning and response system to potential human rights violations within the coffee supply chain. This tool is within parameters of the international regulatory framework, Human Rights Due Diligence. Adopting this framework is required by international law and drives the global private sector to increase transparency within its operations. The framework was developed through a robust process including local consultation which involved workers, survivors of human rights violations, government, civil society, and the private sector.
What makes this tool unique and innovative is the potential it has to achieve social dialogue and joint solutions between workers at a national level, the National Confederation of Salaried Workers and Rural Employees (CONTAR) which is a key partner of this initiative, and companies within the coffee supply chain.
Presently, Nossa Voz has earned the support of the Rainforest Alliance and the United Nations Global Compact, and has been implemented in partnership with Agrogenius and Mercon. This initiative has been developed in collaboration with LRQA and is monitored by Stanford University. Partnering with Stanford University means that once the pilot has been completed, recommendations can be generated for further improvement.
The first group of farms has already received training on the use of Nossa Voz. Every Sunday, workers at these farms receive information digitally, about their rights as rural workers within the coffee sector. This digital campaign and the overall communication strategy were as a result of an extensive consultation with both male and female workers. This was carried out by GFEMS’ partners in Brazil, LRQA and Instituto Trabalho Decente (ITD).
To learn more about Nossa Voz, you can reach out to Fernanda Carvalho (Country Manager, Brazil) via email: Fernanda.carvalho@gfems.org.
As pessoas que trabalham em fazendas de café no Brasil agora podem conhecer melhor seus direitos e ter acesso a uma linha de ajuda onde podem tirar dúvidas gerais sobre o trabalho nas fazendas, apresentar suas reclamações sobre o trabalho e suas experiências e encontrar uma solução justa para seus problemas. Os mecanismos de reclamação são fundamentais na realização da devida diligência. Proteger os trabalhadores das fazendas de café no Brasil é o objetivo central da implementação do “Nossa Voz” no Brasil, que é uma iniciativa piloto liderada pelo Fundo Global para o Erradicar a Escravidão Moderna (GFEMS), financiada pelo Departamento de Estado para Monitorar e Combater o Tráfico de Pessoas do governo dos Estados Unidos da América.
Nossa Voz é um mecanismo de reclamação que visa trazer uma abordagem preventiva e funcionar como um sistema de alerta e resposta precoce a possíveis violações de direitos humanos na cadeia produtiva do café. Esta ferramenta está dentro dos parâmetros do marco regulatório internacional em Devida Diligência em Direitos Humanos. A adoção dessa estrutura é exigida pela lei internacional e impulsiona o setor privado global a aumentar a transparência em suas operações. O modelo do Nossa Voz foi desenvolvido por meio de um processo robusto, incluindo consulta local que envolveu trabalhadores, sobreviventes de violações de direitos humanos, governo, sociedade civil e setor privado.
O que torna esta ferramenta única e inovadora é o potencial que tem para alcançar o diálogo social e soluções conjuntas entre os trabalhadores a nível nacional, a Confederação Nacional dos Trabalhadores Assalariados e Trabalhadores Rurais (CONTAR) – que é um parceiro fundamental desta iniciativa, e empresas da cadeia produtiva do café.
Atualmente, o Nossa Voz conta com o apoio da Rainforest Alliance e do Pacto Global das Nações Unidas, e é implementado em parceria com as empresas Agrogenius e a Mercon. Esta iniciativa foi desenvolvida em colaboração com a LRQA e é monitorada pela Universidade de Stanford. A parceria com a Universidade de Stanford significa que, uma vez concluído o piloto, recomendações podem ser geradas para aperfeiçoamento da ferramenta.
O primeiro grupo de fazendas já recebeu treinamento sobre o uso do Nossa Voz. Todos os domingos, os trabalhadores dessas fazendas recebem, por meio digital, informações sobre seus direitos como trabalhadores rurais no setor cafeeiro. Esta campanha digital e toda a estratégia de comunicação resultaram de uma ampla consulta a trabalhadores e trabalhadoras, incluindo resgatados. Isso foi realizado pelos parceiros do GFEMS no Brasil, a LRQA e o Instituto Trabalho Decente (ITD).
Para saber mais sobre o Nossa Voz, você pode entrar em contato com Fernanda Carvalho (Diretora do GFEMS no Brasil) pelo e-mail: Fernanda.carvalho@gfems.org.
Since 2018, GFEMS has invested in several studies to shed light on exploitative labor practices in the informal apparel sector of Bangladesh, including law and policy analysis and a rapid assessment of the impacts of COVID-19 on workers. GFEMS has also created practical resources for use by practitioners and policy-makers to reduce exploitation in this sector. However, to date, there have been few attempts to estimate the prevalence of forced labor in the informal ready-made garment sector. Prevalence estimations are critical. They provide deeper insight on the scale and scope of modern slavery in targeted sectors and geographies, contributing to more effective programming and more sustainable solutions.
GFEMS engaged NORC at the University of Chicago to measure the prevalence of forced labor among informal apparel factory workers in the Narayanganj and Keraniganj garment production hubs in Bangladesh. Research uncovered high rates of exploitation, with over 86% of workers meeting the ILO’s criteria for forced labor.
For additional findings and recommendations on how the government of Bangladesh and civil society can work together to reduce exploitation among workers in Bangladesh’s informal apparel sector, read the full research brief.
Dear G7 Trade Ministers,
As the leading group of democracies driving forward an ambitious agenda to confront global challenges, the G7 has an opportunity to lead by example in demonstrating that forced and child labor has no place in global markets. We applaud the recent work of G7 Leaders in affirming its commitment to ending forced labor in global supply chains. The G7 Trade Ministers meeting next month in Germany represents another opportunity to collectively reaffirm and demonstrate the G7’s commitment through concrete and decisive action.
Following expressed concern about forced labor in global supply chains by G7 Leaders in Carbis Bay in 2021, Trade Ministers met in September 2021 to begin a discussion about how to address this important human rights issue. We applaud Trade Ministers for the October 2021 statement that there is no room for forced labor in the rules-based multilateral trading system. In that same communication, Trade Ministers also made certain commitments to propel forward anti-forced labor policies and actions. Specifically, Trade Ministers committed to promoting guidance on human rights due diligence, promoting common definitions and guidance to collect and share data and evidence on forced labor, and facilitating compliance with international labor standards and international standards on responsible business conduct in global supply chains. Additionally, Trade Ministers committed to further collaborative work to protect individuals from forced labor, to ensure that global supply chains are free from the use of forced labor and that those who perpetrate forced labor are held accountable.
The upcoming meeting in Neuhardenberg presents an opportunity to move from commitment to action. To accelerate progress toward the goals articulated in October 2021, we call on G7 Trade Ministers to create a more formal, regular technical working group, comprised of States, multi-lateral institutions, representatives from labor and human rights organizations and importantly, individuals with lived experiences of forced or child labor, to share technical expertise, data and evidence and make specific recommendations. This group should be specifically tasked with making recommendations on how G7 states should:
No one should reap profits off the back of forced or child laborers. Our organizations – representing survivor leaders, human and labor rights advocates, policy experts and researchers – stand ready and willing to fully participate in such a working group to share our expertise as requested and to make suggestions of other relevant participants. Thank you for your consideration and leadership.
Sincerely,
Kristen Abrams
Senior Director, Combatting Human Trafficking, McCain Institute
James Kofi Annan
President, Challenging Heights
Chris Ash
Program Manager, National Survivor Network
Catherine R. Chen
CEO, Polaris
Joanna Ewart-James
Executive Director, Freedom United
Grace Forrest
Founding Director, Walk Free
Yuka Iwatsuki
President, Action Against Child Exploitation
Carolyn Kitto
Director, Be Slavery Free
Leigh LaChapelle
Associate Director of Survivor Advocacy, Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking
Shawn MacDonald
CEO, Verité
Jasmine O’Connor OBE
CEO, Anti-Slavery International
Sophie Otiende
CEO, Global Fund to End Modern Slavery
Luke de Pulford
CEO, Arise
Philippe Sion
Managing Director, Forced Labor & Human Trafficking, Humanity United Action
Martina Vandenberg
Founder and President, The Human Trafficking Legal Center
Dan Vexler
Interim CEO, The Freedom Fund
Andrew Wallis OBE
CEO, Unseen UK
Bukeni Waruzi
Executive Director, Free the Slaves
Peter Williams
Principal Advisor, Modern Slavery, International Justice Mission
Ramesh* was 15 when he left his home and family in rural Uttarakhand and migrated to Delhi NCR. He had left in search of work and the opportunity to help his family whose financial situation, already precarious, had grown dire when his father became unwell. As a teenager alone in an unfamiliar city, Ramesh became easy prey for unscrupulous brokers eager to exploit his vulnerability. Deceived by a recruiter, he became trapped in a situation of debt bondage, unable to leave his employer until he managed to escape with the support of a local social worker.
For the next eight years, Ramesh worked as a daily wage laborer on various construction sites. Eventually, he progressed to obtaining work orders for minor components of construction projects and was able to hire a small team of workers. However, despite his near-decade of experience with the work itself, Ramesh was unversed in how to navigate the informal nature of the construction business. He was defrauded on multiple occasions by larger contractors and developers who took advantage of verbal agreements and informal quotations to pay him unfairly, late, or, in some instances, to default on payments entirely. Ramesh faced significant losses, losses that were born not just by Ramesh but by the team that he had hired. He was unable to pay his workers the wages he had promised. Nor could Ramesh raise his grievances with authorities. He relied on word-of-mouth relationships with these larger contractors for references and future work orders. The optimism with which he had viewed the opportunity quickly deflated. Without any real understanding of formal contracting, Ramesh and those whom he employed, were cheated, exploited, and left with no outlet for redress.
Ramesh is one of hundreds of thousands of micro-contractors, situated at the very end of the sprawling and fractured supply chain in India’s construction sector. This sector is one of the fastest-growing in the world and accounts for 9% of India’s GDP. It is the country’s second-largest employer, attracting millions of migrant workers to urban centers each year.
The industry is characterized by a complex and multi-layered value chain that relies heavily on a floating workforce of migrant workers to meet labor demands. The majority of these workers are low-skilled rural migrants and members of socially disadvantaged communities.
Commonly, they depend on daily wages for their livelihoods, making them particularly vulnerable to exploitation. In a large-scale worker voice study with over 17,000 migrant construction workers in 2019-2020, the Global Fund found that approximately 30% of respondents experienced some form of forced labor risks, with nearly 5% experiencing critically severe forced labor conditions. More than 20% reported restrictions on their movement after work shifts, and over 10% reported facing threats to themselves and their families at their workplace.
Micro-contractors like Ramesh are the primary employers of this vulnerable migrant population, employing between 5 and 25 unskilled and semi-skilled workers at a time. They represent the node of the construction supply chain that is most directly connected to migrant workers – they are usually the first point of contact for workers at the end of their migration journey, and are responsible for their recruitment, scope of work, working conditions, working hours, and wages.
Most micro-contractors spend several years as daily wage workers and often belong to the same communities as the migrants they employ. Rising to the role of micro-contractor may seem a step up, but micro-contractors are at the mercy of structural constraints that often leave them with very few options to improve working conditions. Critically, micro-contractors regularly face irregular and delayed payments from their contractors which often limits their ability to pay timely and full wages to workers. As they are only paid when they complete a particular work order, they absorb the majority of risk as it is passed down the supply chain. Since they typically have no access to affordable financing options and often lack financial safety nets, they often take out high-interest loans through informal channels in order to stay afloat, increasing volatility and potentially trapping them in a cycle of debt bondage.
Further, most micro-contractors operate as unregistered and informally managed businesses and lack the necessary know-how to effectively structure and formalize their practices, leaving them, and consequently the workers they employ, vulnerable to exploitation and without access to channels for redress and remediation. This is the situation that Ramesh confronted. Despite his years of experience in the industry and the seeming opportunity to achieve a better future, Ramesh lacked the necessary support systems and business acumen to succeed in his new role. By extension, so too did the workers he had hired.
Given the absence of clear and direct channels between big developers and the workers on construction sites, micro-contractors present a much more relevant and effective intervention point to drive worker benefits than top-down efforts through large industry stakeholders.
Between 2019 and 2021, the Global Fund and our partners worked to test this hypothesis and piloted efforts to train micro-contractors on both ethical labor practices and technical skills for business development (such as digitizing payment transactions, developing accurate quotes for work orders, and formalizing business contracts). The aim was to support the development of non-exploitative employment conditions that were mutually beneficial for workers and contractors. During this period, over 3,000 migrant workers were employed with the 570 micro-contractors trained through the project.
A large-scale quantitative study run simultaneously to this project found that workers who were employed with trained micro-contractors faced lower forced labor risks than those in the larger study pool who did not receive this intervention. Qualitatively, workers employed by trained micro-contractors expressed a desire to stay on with these employers as they had taken steps to create safe and equitable work environments, including ensuring on-time wage payments, providing safety equipment for risky jobs, and helping meet essential needs such as food, accommodation, and childcare at construction sites. Notably, women working for trained micro-contractors highlighted the non-discriminatory practices employed in the workplace. Unlike their previous experiences in the construction industry, they were now paid separately from their spouses and at an equal rate. The trained micro-contractors internalized the concept that fostering ethical relationships with workers contributes greater value on both sides. They further confirmed that technical and business practice training allowed them to formalize their work agreements and develop more secure contracts with clients to avoid payment defaults, enabling them to pay their workers on time and yielding positive outcomes with worker retention and productivity.
This programming is focused on providing additional cohorts of micro-contractors with access to low-cost working capital loans, channels for stable work orders, and training on ethical labor and business practices. The Global Fund views engagement with micro-contractors as a cornerstone of our approach to eliminating forced labor in the construction industry. We continue to generate evidence to build the “business case” for investing at the micro-contractor level. Trained in business and ethical practices, micro-contractors can better protect themselves and the men and women they hire. They can transform systems of exploitation.
If you are interested in partnering with the Global Fund, please contact media@gfems.org.
*Ramesh is a composite character based on research findings and discussions with implementing partners. Uttarakhand is a state in Northern India.
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased workers’ vulnerability to modern slavery across global apparel and manufacturing supply chains. In addition to exacerbating risks to workers, the pandemic has increased consumers’ visibility on where and how the goods they purchase are produced. As economies recover and global production rapidly resumes, we see heightened consumer demand for ethical sourcing.
Governments have joined these consumers in calling on businesses to build back better and eliminate forced labor from their supply chains. Brands and buyers are increasingly challenged to understand and address risks of modern slavery at all levels of their supply chain operations. While companies can ensure that clear policies and supplier codes of conduct are in place, these policies have limited power in a highly opaque supply chain.
We have identified three promising tools that can help brands and buyers assess the risk of forced labor, identify high-risk producers in the supply chain, and provide tangible solutions to remediate violations.
As we prepare to mark Anti-Slavery Day and the trade ministers of the world’s largest economies arrive in London, we face a stark truth: forced labour is pervasive across our economies and supply chains.
There are an estimated 25 million people in the world who are victims of forced labour exploitation, and evidence suggests this number is rising. These crimes taint tens of billions of pounds worth of everyday goods that make up our diets and daily routines, from coffee and chocolate to mobile phones and the clothes we wear.
The good news is that people are demanding change — and many governments and corporations are responding. Last June, at the G7 summit in Carbis Bay, leaders committed to work together to “protect individuals from forced labour and to ensure that global supply chains are free from the use of forced labour”.
Many nations are passing new laws, ranging from modern slavery acts to mandatory due diligence laws and import bans, to prevent the trade in goods and services made using forced labour. Corporations, too, are making commitments to increase the transparency of their supply chains, and investors are realising that not only is modern slavery morally wrong, it is a material, financial risk to their portfolios.
But commitments are not enough. It is time for action. Time to get practical. That is why we have joined anti-slavery leaders from around the world to write to the G7 trade ministers calling for action to make these commitments a reality.
The trade ministers were tasked by their leaders to “identify areas for strengthened cooperation and collective efforts towards eradicating the use of all forms of forced labour in global supply chains”. We know the problem. We have political commitments to deal with it. And we have proven solutions.
• First, G7 counties must work together to agree legal frameworks that are complementary and collaborative. We should harmonise minimum legal and regulatory standards on forced labour.
This should include all members prohibiting the import, export or internal sale of goods and merchandise made or transported wholly or in part by forced labour, as well as mandating that companies operating in their jurisdiction conduct human rights and environmental due diligence in their operations and supply chains, in line with UN guiding principles.
• Second, G7 countries should agree that any future trade agreement, trade preference programme or other trade tools must contain provisions specifically prohibiting the use of forced labour. It should also include punishment for violations. To ensure that our lower-income trading partners can be part of the solution, G7 nations should provide support to partners to help achieve these standards and facilitate trade that remains free of forced labour.
• Third, the G7 should commit to recognising that any forced labour-related import, export or internal sale prohibition imposed by one member country is applied across all member countries. Such a step would dramatically lower the costs and barriers to effective and timely action. This bold move will require the creation and strengthening of mechanisms for robust information and data-sharing, as well as the development of common criteria and methods based on best practices.
• Fourth, G7 nations should use all available instruments, including public procurement policies and their leadership in multilateral institutions, to prevent forced labour in global supply chains, including within the digital economy.
• Fifth, the G7 must make additional commitments to assist people who have been victimised by forced labour, whether at home or abroad. These programmes must be designed with the meaningful input of affected workers and survivors and should be based on common principles for assisting those who have been harmed, including for rehabilitation and remediation purposes.
We will never build back better or achieve sustainability on the back of slave labour. We are confident that these five steps, taken together, could make significant strides in reducing forced labour, supporting survivors and ending impunity for traffickers. It is time to translate broad principles into the specific policy and resource commitments to achieve these objectives.
Karen Bradley is co-chairwoman of the all party parliamentary group on human trafficking and modern slavery; Alex Thier is chief executive of the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery
The Global Fund to End Modern Slavery (GFEMS) is launching a new partnership with the Program to End Modern Slavery at the United States Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons targeting labor trafficking in the coffee supply chain in Brazil.
Comprehensive Action towards Forced labor Eradication (CAFE) aims to reduce forced labor in Brazil’s coffee industry, the largest in the world. CAFE will focus on the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil’s top coffee producing region. The coffee industry has more cases of forced labor reported than any other industry in the country. Large-scale raids by authorities in recent years demonstrates a widespread problem.
The CAFE partnership seeks to create large-scale change by combining focus on protection, prosecution, and survivor inclusion. GFEMS is proud to team up again with ELEVATE to identify and address labor abuses on coffee farms. And we are excited to work with new partners. In collaboration with Stanford University’s Human Trafficking Data Lab, we will be developing, testing, and rolling out an innovative machine learning-based tool to model trafficking risks, supporting Brazilian authorities to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of labor prosecutions. Instituto Trabalho Decente also joins the partnership to guide development of both activity streams and embed the tools developed with local stakeholders. GFEMS will ensure the CAFE partnership is survivor-centered through the formation of a new Expert Advisory Council, anchored by Survivor Advisors.
“We couldn’t be more excited about this exciting new partnership with the US State Department,” said the Fund’s CEO Alex Thier. “Working with Brazilian authorities, survivors, and civil society leaders to disrupt forced labor in the coffee industry is exactly why the Global Fund exists. Bringing together world class partners like Stanford University, ELEVATE, and Instituto Trabalho Decente with Brazilian leaders is the key to changing the systems that perpetuate these crimes and eradicating forced labor from global supply chains.”
The launch of CAFE marks the growth of the successful partnership between the US State Department and GFEMS, building on highly impactful investments across Asia and East Africa. GFEMS is grateful for the continued support and partnership of the State Department, and all of our global partners, in our mission to end modern slavery. You can read more about our innovative programs and research to end commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor in many industries, end impunity for traffickers, and support survivors here.
Questions about this announcement may be sent to media@gfems.org.
This press release was funded by a grant from the United States Department of State. The opinions, findings and conclusions stated herein are those of the author[s] and do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Department of State.