Top religious leaders
vow to end modern slavery in India
Three
of the world’s top religious leaders – Pope Francis of the Vatican, Archbishop
of Canterbury Justin Welby and Grand Imam of Al Azhar Dr Mahmoud Azab have
joined hands in the biggest ever push to eradicate modern day slavery and human
trafficking in India by 2020.
This is the first time in history that the global Christian and Islamic leadership –with a reach of over 3 billion people have joined hands for a common cause. A significant part of the campaign by this new Global Freedom Network launched on Monday will be to rid India of both these modern ills.
According to the recent Global Slavery Index released in 2013, India was ranked 4th worst country indulging in modern day slavery and human trafficking. India, the report states, exhibits the full spectrum of different forms of modern slavery, from severe forms of inter-generational bonded labour across various industries to the worst forms of child labour, commercial sexual exploitation and forced and servile marriage.
The formidable challenge, it said, is the enormity of the problem, both in number of trafficked persons and increasing number of locations. An estimated 20 to 65 million Indian citizens are believed to be in forced labour within India as a result of debt bondage.
The World Bank estimated in 2012 that 32.7% of Indians lived below the international poverty line of less than $1.25/day (PPP). Poverty and India’s caste system are significant contributing factors to its modern slavery problem. The index found that between 13,300,000 and 14,700,000 are enslaved in India. This means India is home to nearly half of the world’s entire number of 30 million slaves worldwide.
India stands fourth as per proportion but right on top of this shameful list when it comes to absolute numbers. The Network launched on Monday has been initiated by Walk Free Foundation’s founder — Australian billionaire philanthropist Andrew Forrest. The religious leaders will use their clout to make their supply chains and investments modern slaveryproof besides mobilising their youth sections to support programmes.
This is the first time in history that the global Christian and Islamic leadership –with a reach of over 3 billion people have joined hands for a common cause. A significant part of the campaign by this new Global Freedom Network launched on Monday will be to rid India of both these modern ills.
According to the recent Global Slavery Index released in 2013, India was ranked 4th worst country indulging in modern day slavery and human trafficking. India, the report states, exhibits the full spectrum of different forms of modern slavery, from severe forms of inter-generational bonded labour across various industries to the worst forms of child labour, commercial sexual exploitation and forced and servile marriage.
The formidable challenge, it said, is the enormity of the problem, both in number of trafficked persons and increasing number of locations. An estimated 20 to 65 million Indian citizens are believed to be in forced labour within India as a result of debt bondage.
The World Bank estimated in 2012 that 32.7% of Indians lived below the international poverty line of less than $1.25/day (PPP). Poverty and India’s caste system are significant contributing factors to its modern slavery problem. The index found that between 13,300,000 and 14,700,000 are enslaved in India. This means India is home to nearly half of the world’s entire number of 30 million slaves worldwide.
India stands fourth as per proportion but right on top of this shameful list when it comes to absolute numbers. The Network launched on Monday has been initiated by Walk Free Foundation’s founder — Australian billionaire philanthropist Andrew Forrest. The religious leaders will use their clout to make their supply chains and investments modern slaveryproof besides mobilising their youth sections to support programmes.
source: The Times of India dt 18.3.14
