Ending Forced Labor Makes Good Business Sense
Ending forced labor around the world will boost global GDP by $611 billion per year, according to new research by the United Nations International Labor Organization (ILO). Researchers calculated the economic impact of liberating nearly 28 million from sex and labor trafficking worldwide.
The ILO estimates it would cost $212 billion over five years, roughly $42 billion per year, to achieve these human rights and economic milestones. The report reveals that ending forced labor is both the right thing to do and the smart thing to do, yielding a three-fold return on investment.
Read the full ILO report here.
ATEST-member organization United Way worldwide, which helped fund the research, recently convened a webinar with the ILO and key movement figures, including ATEST, to discuss the findings and how they can be used to push for increased funding of anti-trafficking programs by governments, foundations, international institutions and others. A recording of the webinar can be found here.
