Project Status:

Completed

UNU-CPR RESEARCHERS: Alice Eckstein, Angharad Smith

With Target 8.7 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 193 countries pledged their commitment to take effective measures to eradicate modern slavery, human trafficking, and forced and child labour.

But what are effective measures? What works to address these problems?

To answer these questions, UNU-CPR created Delta 8.7—an innovative project that helps policy actors understand and use data responsibly to inform policies that contribute to achieving Target 8.7. Delta 8.7 highlighted the most useful data, evidence, research and news, analyzed cutting-edge data, and helped people understand that data so it could be translated into effective policy. The project was generously supported by the UK Home Office’s Modern Slavery Innovation Fund.

‘Delta 8.7—the Alliance 8.7 global knowledge platform’ was established during Phase 1 of the project. Phase 2 continued the development of Delta 8.7, making innovative use of computational technologies, including the online knowledge platform, and this platform was deepened and extended with context-specific research as well as policy guidance identified collaboratively with researchers, policy makers, civil society, and other stakeholders.

With only a short time to achieve the goal of taking effective measures to end human exploitation by 2030, the outputs developed by Delta 8.7 serve as a resource for both policymaking and research communities. Delta 8.7 thanks the wide network of dedicated individuals and organizations who contributed to the development of the platform, and who continue to develop, implement, and study new policies and practices in the anti-slavery field.

Delta 8.7’s project milestones included:

• 193 UN Member State data dashboards that compiled and visualized publicly available Target 8.7-related data and evidence, accompanied by additional information to help interpret the data and summaries of government efforts to tackle modern slavery
• Five regional data dashboards and one global dashboard
• 200 articles written by 167 experts from 88 organizations
• Three evidence-based, research community-created policy guides
• Five in-country workshop briefings, 101 learning opportunities, and eight symposia.