A new set of grants will give survivor-led organisations the resources they need to tackle modern slavery in their own communities – and trust them to spend it in the ways they believe will have the biggest impact.
Grassroots organisations in the Philippines, Thailand and Cambodia that work to support people at risk of, and affected by, modern slavery are invited to apply for the unrestricted US $20,000 grants, which they can spend however they decide.
The grants are the latest available from the Freedom Fund’s Survivor Leadership Fund, following three previous rounds of funding to local, survivor-led organisations in East Africa, South America and South-East Asia. Seven organisations in Kenya and Uganda were selected for their important and inspiring work to end exploitation in their communities, including forced marriage and human trafficking, and support the sustained recovery of survivors. Fifteen organisations in Bolivia, Brazil and Peru were also selected for their community-facing work addressing forced labour, domestic servitude and sexual exploitation. In South -East Asia, 15 organisations were selected to participate, while more recently, 17 organisations in Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia were chosen.
With a straightforward application process and minimal reporting requirements, the Freedom Fund hopes that this trust-based approach will quickly and efficiently get funding directly to where people needed most: small, local and emerging organisations working on the frontlines to put an end to modern slavery.
The grants are available to organisations with one or more person with lived experience of exploitation (human trafficking, forced labour, bonded labour, forced marriage or child labour, including child sexual exploitation) in a leadership position or a decision-making role.
Roisai Wongsuban, the Freedom Fund’s Program Adviser in Thailand said: “Survivor-led organisations have the local knowledge and reach to make a real and significant impact in the fight against human trafficking. Giving them the funds they need, and the choice of how to spend it, will go a long way to counter the risks of exploitation – particularly in the seafood industry, supply chains and domestic labour – currently facing many communities in the region.”
Claire Falconer, the Head of Global Initiatives and Movement Building, who leads the Survivor Leadership Fund, said: “We are incredibly excited to make this new round of grants available to survivor-led organisations in the Philippines, Cambodia and Thailand.
“Such organisations are all too often locked out by the demands of traditional donors and denied the much-needed funds they need to build and grow. We know giving grassroots organisations the money they need enables them to make a significant difference in tackling the systems that allow modern slavery to continue in their own communities.”
Notes for Editors:
The deadline for applications is 31st October 2023. For more information about the Survivor Leadership Fund and further details of how to apply – including an application guide and a link to the online application form – click here.
Media enquiries:
Melanie Hargreaves, Media and PR Manager (London, UK), [email protected]
The Freedom Fund is a global fund with the sole aim of helping end modern slavery. We are a catalyst in the global effort to end modern slavery, working in the countries and sectors where it is most prevalent. We invest in and partner with organisations and communities on the frontlines of ending exploitation.
By partnering with those at risk of modern slavery as well as visionary investors, governments and anti-slavery organisations, we bring together the knowledge, the capital and the will needed to dismantle the systems that allow slavery to exist and thrive.
Through our investments and support, we aim to shift power, so that frontline organisations and communities can shape and drive the change required to bring modern slavery to an end.
