Launch of landmark ‘Roadmap’ to end contemporary slavery in the Commonwealth by 2025


7th December 2018

At April’s Commonwealth Summit, a firm commitment was made to “eradicating forced labour, ending modern slavery and human trafficking, and securing the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour in all its forms by 2025.”

Achieving this is linked to the eradication of exclusion, exploitation, and human rights abuses.  It requires societies that are more equal, resilient, and tolerant. Upwards social mobility is key. The new ‘Roadmap,’ designed by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) identifies four areas of action that have the ability to accelerate progress to meet the Commonwealth’s ambition by 2025: social norms, attitudes and behaviours; law and policy frameworks; social and economic assets and safety nets; and robust data collection.

CHRI’s David White commented;

For the first time the ‘Roadmap’ introduces a comprehensive indicator framework to track progress and hold governments and civil society to account. Building on the indicators developed by the WalkFree Foundation for their Global Slavery Index, this framework is an international first. We are proposing to track not just the introduction of legal and policy frameworks, but their actual implementation and effectiveness, as well as the quality of protection mechanisms.


Notes for editors:

CHRI is an independent, non-governmental, non-profit organisation. For 30 years, CHRI has worked for the practical realisation of human rights across the Commonwealth. It is accredited to the Commonwealth Secretariat, has special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council, and observer status at the Commonwealth Forum of National Human Rights Institutions.

The launch will be held on Monday December 10th at the Palace of Westminster, London, hosted by Baroness Young of Hornsey.

To download an embargoed copy of the report, please click here.

For more information please contact +44 (0)7946 581 023 | dpwhite@humanrightsinitiative.org | @DavidWhiteCHRI