2020•07•13

This virtual webinar, a side-event to the High-Level Political Forum, explored the role of sustainable finance in addressing modern slavery and human trafficking, with a particular focus on lessons learned from the COVID-19 era. Featuring keynote remarks from H.E. Amina Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General, the event considered how the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated people’s vulnerability to labour exploitation and trafficking, the impact it is having on survivors of modern slavery, and the risks it poses for migrant workers in particular, before then exploring the key role the financial sector has to play in fostering effective action to address these issues.

Speakers included Timea Nagy MSM, Founder, Timea’s Cause, and former member of the Financial Sector Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking; Professor Anita Ramasastry, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, and former member of the Financial Sector Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking; Fiona Reynolds, UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment, and former Chair of the Financial Sector Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking; Dr James Cockayne, Head of the Secretariat for the Liechtenstein Initiative for Finance Against Slavery and Trafficking; Serena Grant, Minderoo Foundation’s Walk Free Initiative; and John Brandolino, Director, Division for Treaty Affairs, UNODC.