With the Fund’s support, BLF partnered with ELEVATE to administer worker voice surveys in informal factory clusters in Keraniganj. More broadly, BLF is a collaborative partner and expert advisor as the Fund seeks to expand its work to prevent forced labor in Bangladesh’s informal apparel sector. BLF supports the Fund’s apparel research and its accompanying knowledge dissemination efforts.
Bangladesh Labour Foundation is a locally-based non-governmental organization that advocates for workers’ rights in Bangladesh’s informal apparel factories, with a particular focus on the informal sector. BLF brings unparalleled expertise and access to workers in this under-addressed sub-sect of the apparel market, building on decades of advocacy work in Keraniganj.
GFEMS is partnering with ELEVATE on multiple projects in multiple geographies in multiple sectors to end forced labor and exploitation.
In consortium with Diginex Solutions and Winrock International, this project developed and piloted a mobile application to provide Bangladeshi workers with a suite of tools to make informed decisions about labor migration to the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. The app was developed in ongoing consultation with hundreds of migrant workers, ensuring the tool directly meets their needs.
Over the past two years, with FCDO support, ELEVATE, with its consortium partners Winrock and Diginex Solutions, built and piloted SafeStep, a mobile application for Bangladeshi workers migrating to the Gulf countries. In this follow on phase, ELEVATE is expanding SafeStep to a second destination: Malaysia. ELEVATE and its consortium partners will adapt the existing content on the app to the Malaysian context; create new, Malaysia-specific content (e.g. information on the manufacturing sector); embed a grievance mechanism in the app to provide more comprehensive support for workers at all stages of the migration journey; and increase promotion of the app in Bangladesh and Malaysia to increase uptake.
Former Secretary General of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies expressed the need for embassies and destination countries to adopt SafeStep, citing “digitalisation in the entire migration sector” as the key to ending migrant exploitation. Barrister Shamim Haider Patwary, MP, called the app a “real milestone in the migration sector…a modern approach and landmark in the migration justice system.” Learn more about how SafeStep is making migration safer for migrant workers.
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ELEVATE developed a risk assessment tool to engage brands in detecting the risk of unauthorized subcontracting in the apparel supply chain in India. The tool will help international buyers and retailers to increase their visibility over the supply chain and potentially identify the risk of forced labor deeper in their supply chain. The completed tool will be used in conjunction with a remediation plan to bolster brands’ efforts to reduce the risk of unauthorized subcontracting and forced labor violations.
This project deployed the Laborlink mobile survey technology to detect forced labor in informal ready-made garment factories, which are often excluded from traditional government and brand oversight measures. ELEVATE, with its local partners Bangladesh Labour Foundation and Phulki, surveyed over 12,000 workers, including close to 3,000 children, creating a picture of widespread forced and child labor in two industrial production hubs in Bangladesh.
ELEVATE joins “Comprehensive Action towards Forced Labor Eradication (CAFE),” the Fund’s multifaceted effort to eliminate forced labor in the Brazilian coffee industry, to provide workers an avenue to report exploitation. ELEVATE will work with local partners to establish a grievance mechanism meets the specific needs of coffee workers. The grievance mechanism will act as an entry-point to “the Flow”–a new protocol the Brazilian government has developed to coordinate services provided to survivors.
Over the past two years, with FCDO support, ELEVATE, with its consortium partners Winrock and Diginex Solutions, built and piloted SafeStep, a mobile application for Bangladeshi workers migrating to the Gulf countries. In this follow on phase, the consortium will expand SafeStep’s functionality to include a user pathway for employers, including educational content to help employers take action to prevent forced labor and an in-app survey to collect anonymized data on workers’ migration experiences.
ELEVATE is the industry leader in sustainability and supply chain services globally. ELEVATE designs, builds and manages data driven sustainability linked programs with assessment, advisory, program management, and analytics that drive positive impact.
In 2019, the Global Fund launched new programming in India and Bangladesh. Our partners worked on a variety of issues–Commercial Sexual Exploitation, Overseas Labor Recruitment, and Construction, among other sectors. These programs were made possible with funding from the United States Department of State, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, and the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office.
In 2018, the Global Fund launched its first projects with the support of the U.S. State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. This inaugural portfolio focused on sex trafficking in India, the Philippines, and Vietnam, forced labor in India’s construction industry, and exploitation and abuse of overseas migrant workers in the Philippines and Vietnam. Additionally, the Fund secured partnerships with other governments. Here’s what we learned in our first year in action.
NORC conducted an RMG Law and Policy Analysis Study that focuses on the informal apparel sector to research gaps in Bangladesh’s legal framework, barriers to enforcement, and the role of law and prosecution in reducing prevalence. The study was conducted in two phases.
NORC is currently conducting a rigorous prevalence estimation study in Bangladesh to determine the prevalence of forced labor in the apparel industry.
GFEMS contracted NORC to evaluate changes in knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards commercial sexual exploitation in coastal Kenya. This baseline survey briefing shows that little awareness of the psychosocial affects trafficking can have on victims and survivors, and the stigma against is strong. Learn more:
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This study uses a link-tracing approach to sample returned migrants in the Nairobi metro area and determine the proportion of migrants that experienced conditions of forced labor during their time abroad in GCC countries.
This study will evaluate the impact of IOM’s IRIS Capacity Building Program (IRIS CBP). It will assess the extent to which private recruitment agencies (PRA) that participate in the program are able to transition towards more ethical recruitment practices.
Our recent prevalence study, conducted by NORC with support from Kantar Public, shows their parents are largely unaware of their children’s involvement in commercial sex. To learn more about these findings, read more.
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The study implements a difference in differences (DiD) approach to compare the change in knowledge attitudes and practices of targeted communities. In addition to general knowledge of and attitudes towards CSEC, the study will assess community members’ knowledge of and use of referral mechanisms promoted by the projects.
This study uses a link-tracing approach to draw a sample of individuals engaged in CSE. From this sample, it estimates the proportion of the population engaged in CSEC and identifies salient features of the nature of CSEC in three coastal counties: Kwale, Kilifi, and Mombasa. This is a two time point study.
In the spring of 2021, GFEMS commissioned a series of interrelated studies to assess the short, medium, and long-term impacts of COVID-19 on vulnerable populations in key sectors in Kenya and Uganda and identify ways in which GFEMS-funded programming can be adapted to better support them. The studies revealed increased vulnerability to forced labor conditions among migrant workers and increasing pressure on vulnerable children to engage in the commercial sex industry.
One case study will be conducted for each of the interventions funded in Kenya funded by the U.S. State Department. The studies will assess the appropriateness of intervention modalities in the East African context, the manner in which they address structural drivers of modern slavery, and the vulnerabilities of target populations.
NORC at the University of Chicago is an objective, nonpartisan research organization that delivers insights and analysis decision-makers trust.
This study was commissioned by the GFEMS to estimate the prevalence of forced labor in Vietnam’s apparel industry. It surveyed over 5,000 apparel workers in Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, and Thai Binh in the Red River Delta, locations that are the three main apparel production regions in Vietnam. Respondents were surveyed about their work experiences to determine whether there was evidence of forced labor in the apparel industry.
For years, the apparel industry was also the largest source of export revenues to Vietnam’s economy only to be eclipsed in 2018 by electronics. The apparel industry in Vietnam also attracts large sums of foreign direct investment to shore up the production and export capacity. Because of the long hours and physically demanding nature of garment factory apparel work, concerns about forced labor have been raised by foreign governments and the international NGO community. Our recent prevalence estimate showed that, of identified forced labor victims, only 27 reached out for help.
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GFEMS partnered with the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, with John Jay College and Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, to conduct a study estimating the prevalence of forced labor among Vietnamese migrant workers returning from Japan and Taiwan. The findings shed light on the prevalence with which forced labor conditions may be occurring among this population of migrants, including statistics on industries at highest risk.
The School of Criminology and Justice Studies at UMass Lowell looks to the future by focusing our research on emerging issues confronting the criminal justice system, including violence and victims, justice-involved mental health populations, police innovations, data-driven practice and national and international security.
The Athena-Itad partnership completed six “First Look” case studies for projects funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office. The case studies utilized desk reviews, key informant interviews with stakeholders to gain an in-depth understanding of the project objectives for contributing to prevalence reduction of modern slavery. Athena-Itad assessed the projects using both innovations and systems-change frameworks.
Athena Infonomics is a data-driven global consultancy. We combine social science research methods and ICT tools to drive innovation in policies, processes and programs in global development. Athena Infonomics has offices in India and Washington, D.C., alongside program hubs across Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.