10,000 People a Day Must be Freed to End Slavery by 2030 by IPS, 09/30/19

People in the informal sector, which represents 90 percent of the workforce in developing countries, are at higher risk of being exploited or enslaved, Bhoola added. “By 2030, some 85 percent of the more than 25 million young people entering the labour force globally will be in developing and emerging countries. Their perspectives to access jobs offering decent work will determine their level of vulnerability to exploitation, including slavery,” Bhoola said.

The figures she presented were a “wake-up call” for countries to prepare themselves to tackle slavery more effectively as “10,000 would need to be freed each day if we are to eradicate contemporary forms of slavery by 2030,” she added quoting recent figures from the NGO Walk Free.

Bhoola said that some States had already elected to exclude from public contracts suppliers whose supply chain presented risks of slavery. Other Governments were using anti-money laundering systems to encourage companies to prevent proceeds of slavery from entering the financial system.

The expert regretted, however, that efforts to end slavery had been insufficient. She pointed out that convictions against perpetrators and their risk to face justice remain minimal.

Brazil: An Interview about Marielle Franco’s Enduring Legacy by Anielle Franco for Open Society Latin America Program, 8/5/19

Photo Credit: Open Society

I'm determined to inspire a new generation of leaders, letting others with a similar background as Marielle's know that they matter and that they should take advantage of all opportunities they can find to raise their voices. I believe, and Marielle believed, that this can really create change.

The idea to relaunch Papo Franco after Marielle's assassination actually emerged from conversations within my family, where we realized we had a responsibility to combat misinformation and inaccurate news reports about who Marielle was in order to preserve her memory.

Her critics and detractors pushed stories after her death, and especially during last year's presidential election, that misrepresented my sister and sought to diminish her. This felt like a second blow to the family. First, they take her life and, now, they want to take her memory. We could not stand for that. We wanted to take action so that we could set the record straight and continue building on Marielle’s work to empower a new generation of Marielles.

I am working to get Papo Franco online to reach a wider audience of disenfranchised, marginalized people, particularly black women from favelas, and empower them to get engaged in advocacy—whether that means raising awareness of issues they care about to better understanding their local political environment or running for office themselves. The idea is to take Papo Franco to many places, to other Brazilian favelas outside of Rio de Janeiro and maybe even outside of Brazil, where people would never know the story of Marielle Franco.