Combatting Modern Slavery Through Ethical Supply Chains

In 2018, Grace Farms Foundation made a significant commitment to create business models and standards that support ethical, slavery-free global supply chains. This work has been a natural progression of the Foundation’s efforts to combat modern slavery, allowing us to forge new and innovative partnerships that seek to protect vulnerable communities around the world.

Historic Collaboration to Build Ethical and Transparent Supply Chains

Grace Farms Foundation is collaborating with the Country of Georgia and Unchain —a new charity which was initiated by Grace Farms Foundation— to develop legal, institutional, and policy frameworks that directly target forced labor within Georgia’s agriculture, and technology industries. On October 30, 2018, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the parties, formalizing this unique partnership and bringing change and attention to an under recognized problem that is faced by countries and companies worldwide. Among other responsibilities, the MOU outlines a commitment to implement standards for ethical and transparent supply chains at both a macro and a micro level and details an interest in assembling a tech advisory council to evaluate potential technologies capable of providing end-to-end transparency.

In addition to the successful implementation of these new standards within Georgia, the partners also intend to drive global interest and participation around these progressive efforts. It is their hope that by generating greater consumer awareness around the importance of ethically produced goods, governments and commercial organizations will be more inclined to showcase the steps they are taking within their own supply chains to drive out slavery. Part of this critical awareness building effort will be tied directly to the work of Unchain, which is scheduled to launch as a global advocacy campaign centered around the issue of modern-day slavery in early 2019.

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The Connection Between Modern Slavery and Supply Chains

With more than 40 million victims worldwide, slavery is the second largest global criminal industry and often remains an unseen reality along global supply chains. As individuals, many of the items that we interact with on a daily basis – our clothing, shoes, electronics, and even our food – are made by men, women, and children who are working against their will or in brutal conditions. This pervasive form of exploitation exists in both international and domestic markets, in almost every industry.

As consumers and business leaders, we have a vital role to play in disrupting the current models under which goods and services are sourced and produced with little regard for the impact on vulnerable individuals. We can no longer be knowingly or unknowingly complicit in these crimes, and must rise to the challenge of taking serious and effective steps to root out modern-day slavery in all supply chains, in all industries.

Grace Farms Foundation remains committed to our work in this area, and we hope to continue building a coalition of government entities, businesses, and not-for-profits who can help us lead the way towards a more sustainable future.

Ending modern-day slavery in the Republic of Georgia, Thomson Reuters