Norway supports civil society organisations in the struggle against modern slavery
‘Slavery is not just something that belongs in the history books. More than 40 million people worldwide still work under conditions akin to slavery. And the pandemic has made vulnerable groups even more susceptible to ending up in modern slavery,’ relates Ritika Dhall at Norad's Department for Civil Society and the Private Sector.
‘That makes this new development aid effort more important than ever,’ she stresses.
In 2020 a separate Norwegian aid programme was established with the primary aim of reducing the prevalence and scope of modern slavery. Among other things, the programme is intended to help bring about necessary changes among both the authorities and the business sector in selected partner countries, so that they take the steps that are necessary to eradicate modern slavery.
“Our goal is also to strengthen the resistance of vulnerable groups to recruitment to modern slavery”, says Dhall.
The new programme opens the way for cooperation with different actors at national level, and cooperation with civil society is singled out as particularly important for achieving good results.
NOK 190 million to eight organisations
A total of NOK 190 million has been earmarked for 2020–2023 for the anti-slavery work of civil society actors. These funds were announced in an open international call for proposals targeting civil society, with a deadline of 1 October 2020.
The announcement gave highest priority to the agricultural sector and to Ghana, Ethiopia, Malawi and Uganda.
By the deadline, Norad received 56 applications for amounts totalling NOK 1.3 billion. Eight of these applications have now been granted, and agreements for NOK 190 million signed, six with international and two with Norwegian organisations. The duration of all the agreements extends until the end of 2023.
The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) and Caritas Norway are among the eight grant recipients. The other agreements have been signed with Woord en Daad in the Netherlands, ActionAid International, Rainforest Alliance, Freedom Fund, Anti-Slavery International and APT Action on Poverty.
(For further details of the eight organisations and their anti-modern slavery work, see below)
Increase under Covid-19
Covid-19 has had an especially negative impact on already vulnerable groups, and it is assumed that the vulnerable have increased in numbers and scale because of the pandemic. This is largely due to increased poverty and economic crises. School closures have also led to a substantial increase in children's vulnerability to exploitation.
Especially vulnerable groups are migrants, women and girls, persons with disabilities, ethnic and religious minorities, and people who live in areas of crisis and conflict.
‘Many have lost their jobs, and large numbers of migrant workers have returned to their home countries because of the pandemic. This has given employers increased access to cheap labour and less incentive to provide decent working conditions,’ explains Ritika Dhall.
These are the eight agreements Norad has signed:
Woord en Daad
Woord en Daad (from the Netherlands) were granted NOK 25 million in December 2020 already for preventive interventions in Ethiopia and reintegration of victims of human trafficking, child labour or other forms of exploitation. They will lead a consortium including 4 other organisations: Hope for Justice Ethiopia, Justice for All, Hiwot Integrated Development Organization and Digital Opportunity Trust in Ethiopia.
ActionAid International
ActionAid International was granted NOK 50 million, also in December 2020, to protect vulnerable groups, particularly women and children, against abuse, exploitation and the chance of ending up in modern slavery in Ethiopia and Ghana. ActionAid’s strategy is to cooperate broadly with national authorities in order to increase the local capacity for monitoring and response, with the business sector to improve knowledge and business practice, and with local community organisations and coalitions to increase knowledge and build greater demand for anti-slavery legislation and practice. In Ghana this work will be directed at forced labour in the agricultural sector, while the focus in Ethiopia is on forced labour more generally and on human trafficking. ActionAid's work will also focus on inter-regional solutions to modern slavery through regional bodies such as the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and in the area of international politics through support for Feminist for a Binding Treaty (F4BT) in their involvement in work to develop a binding UN treaty on business and human rights, and in the ILO conference.
In April 2021, a further six agreements were signed:
Rainforest Alliance
Rainforest Alliance was granted NOK 30 million for work to prevent forced and child labour in cocoa and gold-mining communities in Ghana. These sectors recruit from the same vulnerable groups, and working in both sectors in parallel is crucial to achieving sustainable results. The project will cooperate with civil society, private undertakings and authorities, to secure better coverage and implementation of national commitments, support the roll-out of gender-sensitive human rights processes between companies and within supply chains, and build the socioeconomic resilience of vulnerable groups and children. Rainforest Alliance will lead a consortium that includes two other organisations, International Cocoa Initiative and Solidaridad West Africa.
Freedom Fund
The Freedom Fund was granted NOK 30 million for interventions aimed at ending agricultural bonded labour among three marginalised, low-caste ethnic groups in Nepal. Some 400,000 people are estimated to be in agricultural bonded labour across Nepal, with families trapped in exploitative labour relationships to repay debt which may be passed down through several generations.
The three largest groups affected are the Harawa-Charawa, Haliya and Kamaiya between whom there has been limited interaction despite the challenges being shared.
The aim of the project is to unite these groups to reduce the prevalence of agricultural bonded labour in Nepal and support survivors to achieve sustainable freedom. This will be done through mobilising a survivor-led movement, ensuring the government has a robust legal and policy framework and building the resilience of these communities to bring themselves out of bondage.
Anti-Slavery International
Anti-Slavery International, an organisation with over a hundred years of experience of anti-slavery work, was granted NOK 20 million towards ensuring that the rights of children who work as domestic servants are respected in Tanzania and Ghana. The project concentrates specifically on children aged 10–17 years who work as domestic servants, with a focus on children who are particularly vulnerable to exploitation, the majority of them girls.
The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO)
The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) has been granted NOK 13 million to add their efforts to those of national trades union confederations in Ghana and Ethiopia to put an end to forced labour, human trafficking and the worst forms of child labour. LO and national trades union confederations will work with the authorities, employee organisations and the private sector in the two countries.
Caritas Norway
Caritas Norway has been granted NOK 12 million for its work to reduce modern slavery in agriculture and the mining industry in South Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Caritas will work with both the authorities and the private sector to ensure that they implement measures to prevent, identify and address human trafficking, forced labour and the worst forms of child labour in both their operations and their supply chains. Caritas will also work proactively with vulnerable individuals and groups to strengthen their resistance to being recruited into modern slavery.
APT Action on Poverty
APT Action on Poverty has been granted NOK 10 million to contribute to stopping the worst forms of child labour in agriculture in two regions in Uganda. Amongst other things, the project will do preventive work to build resilience in families, making them more resistant to recruitment for child labour, increase their knowledge and understanding of the problem of child labour, and exert influence on local authorities to bring about better implementation of legislation.
Assessing the applications
When the applications are processed, the greatest emphasis is placed on quality. The recommendation therefore also includes some programmes other than for the countries announced as prioritised. The agreements concern Ethiopia, DR Congo, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda and Nepal. These are all Norwegian partner countries, and with the exception of Tanzania, all are Pathfinder countries under Alliance 8.7.
Given the complex, multidimensional aspects of modern slavery, a maximally integrated approach at country level is necessary if efforts are to be successful. Emphasis has been placed on portfolios supporting different types of partners and interventions that can complement one another at country level and enhance the ability of the aid programme to achieve its goals.
The agreements include support for interventions that include the authorities, the business sector, interest organisations, trade unions, local communities, grass-root organisations and civil society organisations.
The interventions must contribute to all the goals of the aid programme. Furthermore, emphasis has been placed on the special extra value of civil society organisations in terms of working directly with and being able to represent vulnerable groups and survivors. At the same time, weight has been attached to including leading actors in the field, who will be able to contribute expertise not only to their specific programmes, but also to the portfolio as a whole.