We are facing an unprecedented crisis.
The US Government recently announced a ‘freeze’ on all foreign assistance. By far the biggest aid donor, the US contributed more than 40 per cent of all humanitarian aid in 2024.
This rash move is extremely dangerous, and the consequences will be devastating for millions of people worldwide. It is underpinned by an alarming disregard for human rights, democracy, and the international institutions that uphold them worldwide.
While much of the impact of these cuts is still to be determined, we are sounding the alarm: the funding freeze will result in millions more people being exploited in slavery. This is one of the greatest threats to global progress towards ending slavery that we have seen in recent times.
As a result of the funding freeze, people are losing access to life-saving assistance that will marginalise them further. To survive, people will be pushed to make risky decisions and take on unsustainable debts, making them more vulnerable to exploitation and slavery. Unfortunately, Anti-Slavery International, our partners, and other organisations working to prevent slavery have been impacted by the freeze. Much of our critical work campaigning for a world free of slavery has been forced to stop at a time when it is needed more than ever.
We continue to stand in solidarity with the nearly 50 million people currently estimated to be in slavery and warn that millions more people will now be at greater risk of exploitation.
We work with dedicated partners worldwide, advocating for stronger laws and supporting people to live in freedom. The US Government was a crucial funder for anti-slavery work. Now, we risk a devastating impact on our global partners, many of whom already work in some of the most hostile and challenging environments. They now face financial uncertainty and a reversal in hard-won progress in their work to ensure people can live in freedom.
For example, the funding freeze has put our work in the Sahel, where we work to support people born into slavery, children who are forced to beg and our campaigns for comprehensive laws to end slavery on hold. It has also impacted our joint efforts to expose Turkmenistan’s government-led system of forced labour in cotton, as well as our coalition work to support migrant workers facing slavery and exploitation in the Middle East. Now more than ever, we need to hear the perspectives of people with lived experience and grassroots organisations, but this move will block them from being heard.
Our CEO, Donna Covey CBE, says, “We believe in a world where everyone can live in freedom, forever. But this funding freeze is already having a terrible impact on people in slavery. We’ve made so much progress, with recent groundbreaking laws and crucial protections introduced around the world. The US Government has been a vital ally in the movement to end slavery. We urge it to reverse this funding freeze so that we can get back to this important work.”
The team at Anti-Slavery International stands in solidarity with everyone impacted by this uncertainty, particularly those on the frontlines supporting communities and workers.
We remain firm in our mission to secure freedom for everyone, everywhere, always.