The Freedom Fund launched the second phase of the Corporate Accountability Seed Fund. The fund provides frontline civil society organisations and human rights defenders with the resources to hold companies accountable for forced labour in their supply chains. The seed fund supports organisations based in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand to initiate or advance actions toward ensuring responsible supply chains in the region, including strategic litigation.
In 2025, we issued grants to 14 organisations. According to the Global Estimates of Modern Slavery, 17.3 million people experience forced labour in the private sector. They work in mines, fields, factories, vessels, construction sites and hotels to produce the goods we buy and provide the services we use across the globe every day. Multinational companies reap the benefit from this exploitation, with long complex global supply chains set up to maximise profits and conceal human rights abuses. The International Labour Organization estimates that this form of forced labour generates at least US $63.9 billion in illegal profits every year. This includes in South East Asia, a region with extremely high prevalence of forced labour in sectors spanning fisheries and agriculture, to electronics and fashion.
There is growing global momentum to put people and the planet before profit by legally requiring companies to take meaningful steps to prevent harm, including forced labour, in their supply chains. Examples include the 2024 adoption of the EU’s Forced Labour Regulation, ongoing debates in the United Kingdom on stronger laws to address forced labour in supply chains, and draft laws in Thailand and South Korea requiring companies to put in place steps to identify, prevent, mitigate and remedy harm.
However, these regulations will only be meaningful if frontline groups in the Global South have the power to use them, alongside existing mechanisms and laws, as they work together with workers and communities experiencing harm. It is crucial that they are on the forefront of efforts to enact meaningful change to address exploitation in our global economy.
Safety risks, legal threats and a lack of resources are major barriers for frontline organisations to move forward corporate accountability measures. Due to companies’ unwillingness to disclose their supply chains, frontline organisations face technical challenges in identifying the companies along a corporation’s supply chain that are profiting from the exploitation.
Since 2023, the Freedom Fund has established the Corporate Accountability Ecosystem Program and partnered with ReAct Asia to launch the seed fund and facilitate the program in South East Asia. Through trainings, workshops and networking with experts and one another, the program aims to support groups in the region to build, adapt, and strengthen their own strategies to advance corporate accountability and secure remedies for affected workers and communities. The program currently includes over 30 civil society partners.
“I trained my staff on what I have learnt in order to empower their capacity. Furthermore, in addition to the litigation, we are considering applying the corporate investigation approach, especially among [..] migrant workers abroad.”
– Ecosystem participant, March 2025*
In the first phase of Corporate Accountability Seed Fund in 2024, the Freedom Fund provided grants to 14 organisations developing groundbreaking legal strategies, training community members in community-led monitoring and convening civil society to develop collaborative advocacy. Phase two now enables organisations to further develop these strategies, as well as supporting three new groups in their work.
“Modern slavery and forced labor strip away decent work. With support from the Freedom Fund, Taiwan Labour Front (TLF) has strengthened its advocacy to end forced labor, expanding social outreach and building partnerships across business, government, and civil society to advance human rights in supply chains and corporate accountability.”
– Taiwan Labour Front, October 2025.
Join us for greater impact
We invite funders dedicated to protecting workers’ rights to join us in supporting this crucial program and amplify our collective impact. By working together, we can build a stronger, more connected civil society network in Southeast Asia, capable of holding companies accountable and securing access to justice for victims of forced labour.
*Name of participant and nationality of migrant workers removed for security reasons
Photo: Josh Stride/Humanity United
