GENEVA – Sponsored by the International Labour Organization, Brazilian anti-slavery activist Leonardo Sakamoto, will be speaking at the United Nations’ TEDx Palais des Nations event in Geneva on Thursday 11 February as part of the ILO’s 50 for Freedom campaign to end modern slavery.


Sakamoto, head of the non-governmental Organization, Réporter Brasil, is one of eleven speakers selected to speak at the event, which will showcase stories of scientists, peacemakers, innovators and humanitarians who are transforming the lives of people around the globe.

He has been a long-time collaborator with the ILO in Brazil and with the Special Action Programme on Forced Labour in Geneva. He is also an advisor to the United Nations Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery.

Innovations

His organization has developed innovative ways to track forced labour in supply chains in Brazil, including the use of drones and mobile phone apps.

“Since 2003, Réporter Brasil has tracked down the supply chains of more than 700 farms, charcoal camps, sweatshops, construction sites and the Brazilian Federal Government has released these workers,” Sakamoto explained.

“We programme web robots. We use drones. We make a lot of different things to search and track forced labour in supply chains and we use this information to change realities.”

You can watch the event live online at tedxplacedesnations.ch between 14:00 and 18:00 GMT on Thursday 11 February.