Hope for Justice is delighted that world leaders have adopted a new Pact for the Future that includes a commitment to eradicate modern slavery and human trafficking.
The document was adopted as a key outcome of the UN Summit of the Future held in New York in September 2024. Hope for Justice and other anti-slavery organisations worked diligently behind the scenes to ensure that efforts to tackle all forms of modern slavery were included in the final Pact for the Future document.
Mohamed Muizzu, President of the Republic of Maldives. Credit: UN Photo/Loey Felipe
The specific commitment is part of Action 35 (We will promote, protect and respect the human rights of all young people and foster social inclusion and integration), and it reads:
“We, the Heads of State and Government, representing the peoples of the world, have gathered at United Nations Headquarters to protect the needs and interests of present and future generations through the actions in this Pact for the Future … (Action 35) We reaffirm the importance of ensuring the full enjoyment of the rights of all young persons, protecting them from violence and fostering social inclusion and integration, especially of the poorest, those in vulnerable situations, including Afrodescendent populations, and those who face discrimination in multiple and overlapping ways. We decide to …
(b) Intensify international, regional and national efforts to take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and trafficking in persons, especially women and children, and eliminate all forms of child labour”
The Summit was described by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (pictured below, speaking at the Summit’s opening) as a “once-in-a-generation” event “for a safer, more sustainable and more equitable world”.
Secretary-General Opens Summit of the Future. Credit: UN Photo/Loey Felipe
Phillipa Roberts, Head of Policy and Research at Hope for Justice, said: “As modern slavery often crosses borders, co-operation between governments is critical to driving forward efforts to end modern slavery. This includes tackling systemic issues that increase vulnerability to modern slavery such as socio-economic inequality, gender inequality, discrimination, and vulnerabilities that are exacerbated further by climate change, conflict and wider humanitarian crises.”
