We want to thank you for your support and to reflect on where we’ve gone together.

Goodbye to the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery

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Earlier this year, we shared the news that the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery (GFEMS) would be winding down its operations at the end of the year. Since then, we have heard from many in the community expressing thanks for our contributions to the fight against modern slavery. Our hope is that our decision will  serve as a catalyst for a new approach to this fight.

The movement to end modern slavery is most effective when led by those with lived experience.

As we close out our work, we will leave our website up, including its content, as a resource to the community. We encourage you to contact grantees directly to find out how best to support them.

We are incredibly grateful to all of our donors and everyone who has worked at GFEMS over the last nine years, both current and past staff members. To those who are now moving on, we cheer you on as you take the next steps in your career journey. To the leaders who have served and the donors who have provided resources, we urge you to maintain your commitment. Many other partners deserve your time and support.

Most of all, we want to thank our grantees—the people doing the work on the ground. You are the front-line fighters in the battle to end modern slavery.


When GFEMS was founded under the End Modern Slavery Initiative Act of 2015, the vision was to develop a coherent global strategy that would foster collaboration by substantially increasing resources from both the public and private sectors. While there was success on that front, the government framework for implementation did not ultimately follow the intended spirit of partnership and collaboration. That said, we did move ahead with our vision and are proud of what we achieved with our donors and partners.

The Fund Through the Years

2017

The Fund was awarded its first major grant from the United States Department of State’s Program to End Modern Slavery. The goal of this grant was to build up a Global Fund and fund key strategic programming. We set out to establish our unique co-creative approach to funding and design our initial programs.

2018

GFEMS launched its first projects in India, the Philippines, and Vietnam. This first round of funding focused on fighting sex trafficking and exploitation in migration systems. Meanwhile, the Fund was awarded its second large PEMS award, and additional grants from the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office to continue its progress. The Fund also partners with the Porticus Foundation to develop an innovative forced labor risk assessment tool. 

2019

The Fund partners with the Principality of Liechtenstein to continue work on forced labor risk assessment. Our work under the first PEMS program continues while we conduct co-creation for further PEMS projects and our FCDO and Norad partnerships. 

2020

Our FCDO and Norad funded projects launch alongside our second set of PEMS projects. This slate of partners were dealing with issues around sex trafficking, migration, and forced labor in manufacturing and apparel across Kenya, Uganda, India, Bangladesh, and Vietnam. During the Global Pandemic, our partners across the world pivot their programming to continue services to their communities. 

2021

GFEMS partners with private donors to advance its work with ethical recruitment to Malaysia and Indonesia. We also launched our third major partnership with the United States Department of State, Project CAFE, fighting forced labor on coffee farms in Brazil.

2022

GFEMS pivots its efforts to focus on movement building and advocacy led by people with lived experience. We developed the first Toolkit for the Meaningful Engagement of People with Lived Experience and a parallel tool for research. We won a major contract from the UK’s Home Office Modern Slavery Innovation Fund to partner with Survivor Alliance in increasing lived experience engagement in research and evidence, and to assist with Survivor Alliance’s Survivor World Congress.

2023-2024

GFEMS continues its work in Brazil, Malaysia, and Indonesia while launching its movement building and advocacy efforts. We partner with the Porticus Foundation, Humanity United, and the Laudes Foundation to advance these efforts. 

GFEMS conducts advocacy on the world stage with the GFEMS CEO sitting as vice chair on Theresa May’s Global Commission on Modern Slavery & Human Trafficking, as well as leading events at the Australian parliament, the Vatican, the UN, and the World Economic Forum at Davos.

As we close out the fund, we’re working to ensure our impact is sustained and the tools we’ve developed stay available to the field.

The Fund’s Impact

$75,000,000+

Raised for the fight against modern slavery.

Nearly 1,000

Private sector actors equipped to provide more ethical recruitment of works

4,500+

People provided holistic, trauma-informed care.

115,000+

Individuals at reduced risk of modern slavery

Dozens of Tools

Developed, like the award-winning FLARE system to detect force labor risk, or our Meaningful Engagement of People with Lived Experience Toolkit, which is the first resource of its kind. Find our tools here.

Numerous Innovations

In the in the area of prevalence measurement and monitoring, evaluation, and learning like the Network Scale-up Method (NSUM), which was adapted from the world of public health and used in several of our evaluations, and our Longitudinal Migration Tracking study, which surveyed over 24,500 workers in the Indian construction sector. 

What we have learned, and what we hope others will carry forward, is that the movement to end modern slavery is most effective when led by those with lived experience. Every effort should be made to put those voices in positions to direct this movement and set them up for success.

To those who will step forward to carry on this critical work, know that all of us who have been a part of GFEMS will continue to support you, whether in our individual capacities or, where possible, within our next professional engagements.

GFEMS entered into this work because the founders understood that modern slavery is enabled by systems of inequality that leave millions vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. It is driven by market demand for cheap goods and services and perpetuated by an enabling environment that allows traffickers to act with impunity. While we have made progress, these fundamental drivers remain unchanged. We believe this moment offers an opportunity for momentum and resources to reduce vulnerabilities, change business practices to ethically meet demand, and strengthen legislative and law enforcement capabilities, ultimately creating systems that protect and empower the vulnerable.

From all of us at the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery, thank you for your support and for the work you will continue to do.

Sincerely,

Jean Baderschneider
Board Chair, Global Fund to End Modern Slavery

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