News/Reports
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Slavery and Its Tentacles: How Bricks Can Be Building Blocks of Change
By Homraj Acharya
August 23 is being noted by the world as the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition. So as citizens of the earth, it is important that we turn our microscope towards ourselves and see if the vestiges of slavery are still lingering around us. As conscientious beings, we cannot and should not tolerate a situation where one human being is forcing another human being to work for them in coercive circumstances. Methods, terminologies, and the approach to address these issues may have changed, but unfortunately humanity is dealing with modern versions of slavery every day in virtually every country in the world—regardless of its economic, social or political status.
What exactly is modern day slavery? It exists in many forms of forced labor in different types of supply chains and can occur at any point along the supply chain from production to distribution. In a nutshell, modern slavery is the existence of a system, formal or informal, that either directly takes way or facilitates an environment where peoples’ freedom to choose their and their family’s actions are controlled by others; where one person has taken away another person’s freedom.
Different countries have defined modern slavery to reflect their own circumstances, but there is a general consensus that modern slavery includes the crimes of human trafficking, slavery and slavery-like practices such as servitude, forced labor, forced or servile marriage, the sale and exploitation of children, and debt bondage.[1] While visible forms of slavery are easy to recognize and address, there are certain types of slavery-like situations such as debt bondage that are difficult to spot and address without looking into the internal workings of the systems and practices in question. The UN Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery’s debt bondage definition can be summarized as a situation where the debt cannot be liquidated reasonably and terms and conditions applied towards the liquidation of debt are not transparent and clearly defined.
Supply chains that are at risk of using forced or bonded labor through debt bondage include: mining, construction, brick-making, agriculture, apparel, fishing, jewelry, remittance-driven migration, food industries, human trafficking for sex work, and other exploitative labor practices. Organizations, companies, and supply chains can practice modern day slavery both knowingly and unknowingly. If all actions within a supply chain recognize this as an issue to be addressed, the world will move closer to addressing this issue in more systemic ways.
Research by the Walk Free Foundation and the Rights Lab at University of Nottingham found that there are 40.3 million people subjected to modern day slavery. This staggering statistic calls for urgent action from business leaders, governments, civil society organizations, labor unions, and market forces to reject the production, consumptions, and other utilization of goods and services that have traces of modern day slavery. It should be simply unacceptable to trade goods that are exploiting people and are produced, traded, and distributed with the imprint of exploitation. Given the ubiquitous nature of modern slavery in the global marketplace, people of all nations are affected by this and are responsible to tackle these issues head on.
Modern slavery has been spreading like an epidemic, particularly as the perpetrators are increasingly using new technology to obscure their crimes and escape persecution. Governments of both the developed world and the developing world are pledging to address this issue by promulgating new legislation, strengthening existing laws, and creating new policies and issuing regulations to address such issues. While this is an important step in the right direction, it is not enough. Governments and institutions in developed nations cannot simply create policies and procedures and then pass the burden of implementation and enforcement to lower-income countries and upstream partners in their supply chains. Similarly, low income countries must also stop the practice of using poverty as an excuse for doing less. There has to be a greater degree of acknowledgement of the issues and coordinated strategies to fight modern slavery as a concern of the entire world.
Modern slavery cannot be eradicated overnight or easily, but it should be simply unacceptable to say that it is a tough issue that has existed since the dawn of human civilization. The long history of existence of an issue does not make it legitimate or excuse inaction or partial action, and no exploitation and inhumane treatment should ever be cloaked under the veil of culture, incompetence of governance, and compendiums of policy and process documents. Justification for injustices should have no place in the vocabulary of humanity.
Policies are important. Their practices are even more so. Global multi-stakeholder initiatives likes Alliance 8.7—the global partnership for eradicating forced labor, modern slavery, human trafficking and child labor around the world—are helping to create urgency around this issue, defining the concepts, and forcing stakeholders to acknowledge the problem. The solutions are rooted across sectors—government, private, and civil society —and require actors on all sides to take action. Donors are improving procurement policies and compliances efforts, private sector actors and industries are standing up demanding accountability further into their supply chains, and civil society and community actors are holding local stakeholders accountable and encouraging reform.
However, it is important for us to also look at some of the best practices that are coming out of the developing world to fight these issues, some of which can be found in less apparent places. One example I would like to present here is the pervasive use of advance-based debt bondage in the brick sector, a common practice in South Asia. These “advances” are used to trap workers in harsh, inhumane conditions for months and sometimes years until they pay off their debts, thus “guaranteeing” the industry reliable labor. By working through a local, national, and international collaboration model, the Better Brick – Nepal (BBN) program has been successful in advocating for better legislative changes, changes in behavior among the kiln owners, improved working conditions for workers, and an acceptance of problems inherent in the system within the industry. Originally unwilling to even acknowledge the use of advances, kiln owners are working with BBN to eliminate them and convincing their peers—other kiln owners—to abolish the practice. The progress of this program in just a few short years shows that sometimes informal industries, such as the brick sector, can be leaders. Change can come from anywhere as long as there is a will to change and a good model to support it.
Better Brick Nepal’s model can be an important learning and strategic tool for industries across the subcontinent. For more info on BBN’s work, please refer to the 2017 Annual Report: http://globalfairness.org/images/gfinepalannualreport.pdf
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Homraj Acharya is Senior Advisor for South Asia at the Global Fairness Initiative (GFI)—an International development organization headquartered in Washington, DC that promotes locally rooted solutions for the global economy and champions decent work around the world.
[1] https://www.walkfreefoundation.org/news/resource/the-global-slavery-index-2018/
Lamia Senousi Joins Global Fairness Initiative Board
Distinguished global communications leader joins international team of leaders on the GFI Board of Directors.
Washington, DC – The Global Fairness Initiative (GFI), a leading NGO dedicated to improving livelihoods for the working poor, has announced that Lamia Senousi will join the GFI Board of Directors. An admired global communications leader, and a resonant voice for equitable economies, Ms. Senousi joins a GFI Board comprised of leaders and luminaries representing government, civil society, labor, and private industry from throughout the globe.
“It is my pleasure to welcome such a valuable and energetic voice to the Board of the Global Fairness Initiative,” said Former President of Slovenia and GFI Board Chair Danilo Türk. “Lamia’s communications expertise and passion for development work will be of great value to GFI’s important work.”
Lamia Senousi is the Global Head of External Communications at the London Business School, where she oversees a team of public relations professionals in London and Dubai, as well as at three Public Relations agencies in New York, Dubai, and Hong Kong, in addition to developing and implementing the global communications strategy for the School. Senousi was most recently a Global Communications and Strategic Partnership Leader at EY (formerly Ernst & Young), where she led development and implementation of a global communications agenda for the Global Climate Change & Sustainability Practice. Previously, she worked at Deloitte, LLP in London and at PR Newswire. She was also the Campaign Manager & Election Agent in 2015 for the Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Cities of Westminster and London. Senousi currently serves in a number of advisory roles, including as a Contributing Editor to Women of Egypt, and previously served as Communications Advisor to the Womanity Foundation and Policy Development Director for the International Self-Care Foundation.
“We are delighted to have Lamia Senousi join our wonderful Board of Directors,” said Karen Tramontano, founder of the Global Fairness Initiative. “Lamia’s enthusiasm and leadership will be a great asset to our distinguished Board.”
The Global Fairness Initiative is an International NGO that works to create a more equitable, sustainable approach to economic development, and to make our global economy work for those who need it most, the world’s working poor. For over a decade GFI has steadily built a track record of success through innovative programs to reduce poverty, enfranchise informal communities, and advance human rights and livelihoods in all parts of the world.
Guardian Profile: Salt Workers Economic Empowerment Program
The Guardian profiled the Salt Workers Economic Empowerment Program, a partnership between GFI and SEWA. Read the full article below or at The Guardian.
Farming on the edge: the Indian salt producers coping with 48C heat
09/23/2016
By Katharine Earley
On the sunbaked salt flats of Gujarat, India, the vast, shimmering expanse of salt shines starkly in farmers’ eyes as they toil in the intense heat. India is the world’s third largest salt producer. More than 80,000 smallholder producer families harvest the salt in the Surendranagar district, its most prolific salt-producing region, in the dry months from October to May.
The farmers, many of them women and teenage girls, pump dense, briny water up to the desert plains through handbuilt wells and rake it constantly to form salt crystals as the water evaporates in the blistering sun. This year, the temperature in Gujarat reached a record-breaking 48.4C, making working conditions even harsher on this ancient, desiccated seabed.
Scientists predict that climate change is also likely to increase rainfall in the region: “If the rain falls in intense, irregular downpours, with extended dry periods in between, this could introduce a level of unpredictability to the traditional salt farming season, potentially disrupting production,” says Dr Friederike Otto, senior researcher at Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute.
Unseasonably heavy rains are already denting production, according to Reema Nanavaty, director of the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), a trade union for smallholder female producers in India, with farmers losing up to a quarter, or 200 tonnes, of total production each season. Irregular monsoons can also cause delays to the season, and increased incidences of windy storms muddies the salt pans, compromising product quality and price.
By the time the farmers have paid for diesel to fuel their pumps, and services such as transport and fresh water to supply their makeshift villages on the edge of the salt flats, it can cost them up to $1.55 to produce each tonne of salt.
This means there’s often little left of the money they receive from middlemen per tonne of salt - approximately $1.78. Middlemen sell on the salt for a market price of around $4.15 per tonne, despite little additional processing beyond some refining.
But life for salt farmers is gradually changing. The Salt Workers Economic Empowerment Program (SWEEP), a joint initiative between the non-profit Global Fairness Initiative (GFI) and SEWA, is working to help female salt farmers in Gujarat gain the commercial and technical knowledge to farm salt more sustainably and profitably as the risk of erratic, extreme weather looms.
Founded in 2012, the programme currently supports 2,500 farmers. It provides technical training to improve farming techniques and salt quality, covering aspects such as drilling boreholes, improving salt pan layout and managing pumps more efficiently.
SWEEP also helps farmers collaborate to engage directly with more reliable buyers, such as the Indian government, to secure a better price for their salt. In this way, the women can achieve an average 64% increase in price (to $2.78 per tonne), according to Caleb Shreve, GFI’s executive director.
However, to truly improve the farmers’ livelihoods, Shreve says, it is vital to cut input costs. With this in mind, SWEEP has been helping farmers replace their diesel pumps with solar-powered ones over the past two years to lower the cost of production. Although solar pumps have a high upfront cost of $3,750, the women save an average of 45% on running costs annually compared to diesel pumps by reducing maintenance and fuel costs, according to Shreve.
Some 500 farmers have invested in the new pumps to date, taking a 90% loan from SEWA. The association provides the loans with interest rates of 14% and it is expected most farmers will repay the loan over four years, largely through diesel savings. India’s microfinance interest loan rates, in comparison, can exceed 26%.
With their improved income, Surendranagar’s salt farmers often invest in more salt pans, as well as further equipment and transport to run their farms independently, without needing to rely as much on third parties. Many also invest in education for their children, as well as better housing, food and clothing.
“The beauty of this scheme is that it helps one of India’s poorest traditional communities have a better quality of life in the face of climate change, while simultaneously cutting carbon emissions,” says sustainability expert Martin Wright.
Rosey Hurst, director of ethical trade consultancy Impactt, agrees that SWEEP is highly innovative, but cautions against writing off middlemen.
“Solutions that combine technology and market access are terrific, but our experience shows that middlemen in India can add a degree of flexibility to informal supply chains. Despite their sometimes exploitative nature, they can access new markets and insulate producers from market instability. It’s important not to close off this avenue, particularly given that helping smallholders build their capabilities to access new markets is challenging.”
Rita Thapa to Receive 8th Annual Fairness Award
Grassroots leader honored May 17, 2018 at National Museum of Women in the Arts in D.C.
Washington, DC – The Global Fairness Initiative (GFI), an international NGO dedicated to improving the lives and livelihoods of the working poor, has announced that Nepali Social Entrepreneur Rita Thapa will be the recipient of the 8th Annual Fairness Award presented in Washington, DC in May.
Ms. Thapa is the founder of Tewa, a Nepali organization that invests in women to organize, advocate collectively, and upend discriminatory policies and practices in Nepal and across the globe. Tewa has committed to expanding local sources of revenue for grant-making and investment to break a cycle of dependency on foreign assistance and to lead a movement for locally-owned and financed development initiatives. Rita’s selection as the 2018 Fairness Award Honoree is in recognition of a career committed to creating more equitable, sustainable opportunities for poor and vulnerable communities, and particularly women. She has put the power for change in the hands of the people and has amplified the voice of women to, in her words, “organize collectively, challenge systems, strengthen their leadership, and overcome injustice.”
“The Fairness Award celebrates leaders like Rita Thapa who have given a voice to the invisible and enabled opportunity and justice for vulnerable and impoverished people everywhere. Rita exemplifies the best of what we can be when we put our common humanity first, and we are honored to recognize her with the 2018 Fairness Award,” said Karen Tramontano, Founder of the Global Fairness Initiative.
The Fairness Award is presented annually at a ceremony in Washington, DC and is hosted by the Global Fairness Initiative. Honorees are nominated by a selection committee designated by the GFI Board of Directors and the Award is presented to the Honorees by distinguished luminaries who have included Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, President José María Figueres and others. Past honorees include former heads of State, Labor and Human Rights leaders, Social Entrepreneurs, CEOs and grassroots leaders from over a dozen countries and 5 continents. The 2018 Fairness Award ceremony will be held on May 17 at the National Museum for Women in the Arts in Washington, DC. Learn more at www.fairnessaward.org
Paula Moreno to Receive 9th Annual Fairness Award
Grassroots leader honored June 26, 2019 at Carnegie Institution for Science in D.C.
Learn more at www.fairnessaward.org
