Evidence and Data to End Forced Labour (EnD-FL)

Despite significant progress in understanding modern slavery, an estimated 27.6 million people remain trapped in forced labour globally, including 11.8 million women and girls and more than 3.3 million children. Ending forced labour requires not only political will and strong legal frameworks but robust, credible, and actionable data.

Objective

The Evidence and Data to End Forced Labour (EnD-FL) project contributes to strengthening the global evidence base to accelerate progress towards the elimination of forced labour.

In order to achieve this objective, the project focuses on two complementary pillars: strengthening forced labour measurement systems and generating policy-relevant research. These pillars aim to improve the availability, quality, and use of data to inform policy design, implementation, and monitoring at national and global levels.

Strategy

EnD-FL is built around a clear theory of change:

Contribution to global goals

The project contributes directly to:

• SDG 8.7 – Eradicate forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking
• SDG 5 – Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
• ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work

It also supports the ILO’s leadership role as Secretariat of Alliance 8.7 and its engagement with the ILO Global Business Network on Forced Labour.

Outcomes

• Immediate outcome 1: Forced labour measurement at the national and global levels is strengthened
  The project strengthens global knowledge and coordination on forced labour by advancing methodologies and contributing to updated global estimates, including through the development and dissemination of the Global Estimates of Modern Slavery (GEMS). It supports international monitoring frameworks and enhances the availability and use of robust, comparable data to inform global policy discussions and track progress.
• Immediate outcome 2: Policy-relevant evidence on forced labour is strengthened
  The project enhances the generation and use of policy-relevant evidence on forced labour, including through research on gender dimensions and risks in global supply chains. It strengthens regional and global capacity to translate data and analysis into policy and programme design, while promoting knowledge exchange and advancing analytical work on key drivers, patterns, and vulnerabilities associated with forced labour.

Countries and sectors covered

The project has a global scope and supports activities at global, regional, and national levels. Specific country engagement and sectoral focus are determined in collaboration with national partners and aligned with identified data and research priorities.

Implementing partners

The project is implemented by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in collaboration with national statistical offices, governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations, research institutions, international organizations, and other relevant stakeholders.

Development partner

The Evidence and Data to End Forced Labour (EnD-FL) project is funded by the Minderoo Foundation.

The content of this project page is the sole responsibility of the project and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Minderoo Foundation.