During the annual 2016 World Economic Forum meeting in Davos I had the privilege of moderating a small meeting with some key stakeholders to deep dive into human trafficking; especially its impact on the global supply chain. Present were Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Senators Bob Corker and Lindsey Graham, Jürgen Stock from Interpol, Rob Wainwright from Europol and Michele Coninsx of Eurojust as well as representatives from the private and not for profit sectors, Hilton, Thomson Reuters, Tiffany, United Way, Deloitte, International Justice Mission.
The objective of the session was simple, to determine how to take advantage of the unique multi stakeholder platform of the World Economic Forum to harness the various competencies and energy to combat human trafficking and eradicate forced labour from the global supply chain.
The energy and interest in the room was encouraging and we came to the following conclusions;
There is a common, evaluation of the problem so we don’t need more study. Some went as far as to call it the next big thing! It is somewhat invisible as many of the largest corporations hire indirectly many of their employees.
A lot of very important work and best practices have already been undertaken in this area that needs to be cataloged and shared across interested parties.
It is a Global problem; no jurisdiction is immune.
It will require a multidimensional/stakeholder/faith effort to fully address the supply and demand dimensions and culture around this issue.
Working with technology firms to develop data and analytics to understand the size and scope is very important if we want to try and get ahead of this crime.
All of the participants agreed that the formal creation of a public private partnership within the ambit of the World Economic Forum would be of a huge benefit in advancing the necessary effort to confront this challenge.
Adam Blackwell Chair of the Meta Council on the Illicit Economy.
Adam Blackwell 