Global Slavery Crisis Deepens as Nairobi Forum Calls for Stronger Action and Accountability
By Fride Amiani
Global leaders, policymakers, survivor advocates, government officials, civil society organisations and business representatives have converged in Nairobi for a two-day forum seeking stronger and more coordinated action against modern slavery and human trafficking.
The 2026 Freedom from Slavery Global Forum, which opened in Nairobi on Monday, is being held under the theme, “Freedom in a Changing World: Strengthening Protection, Accountability and Transforming the Systems Behind Modern Slavery.”
Convened by Free the Slaves, the October 5–6 forum brings together stakeholders from Africa and across the world to examine practical solutions to modern slavery, including forced labour, human trafficking, child labour and other forms of exploitation.
Free the Slaves Executive Director Bukeni Waruzi said the growing scale of modern slavery required stakeholders to move beyond isolated interventions and work together to develop solutions that can be implemented within communities.
“We know that modern slavery is very prevalent in many communities around the world and no one can do this alone,” Waruzi said.
He said the forum provided an opportunity for governments, civil society organisations, businesses, law enforcement agencies and survivor leaders to share experiences and identify approaches that could better protect communities from exploitation.
“So we're coming here as a way to see how we can think about what works well to address modern slavery in local communities and really how can we cooperate to make sure that those solutions are at the hands of those people who may implement them,” he said.
Waruzi emphasised that networking, partnerships and cooperation were essential in tackling the complex factors that make people vulnerable to exploitation.
“This really requires networking, it requires partnerships, it requires cooperation,” he said.
He identified poverty as one of the leading drivers of vulnerability to modern slavery, while also pointing to climate change, migration and the misuse of technology as emerging factors increasing the risks faced by vulnerable communities.
“Of course we know poverty is the number one, but also misuse of the technology, the climate change, migration, etc.,” Waruzi said.
He said Kenya and the wider East African region were particularly important to the discussions because of the region's position as a migration hub.
“It is very important that we understand those factors and if we can come together to reduce the impact of those factors on modern slavery, to reduce the vulnerabilities of the communities that can be at risk of exploitation,” he said.
Waruzi also raised concern over the rising global number of people affected by modern slavery, saying the figures demonstrated the urgency of strengthening international action.
“We have seen that the numbers are climbing up,” he said, noting that estimates had increased from nearly 40 million people several years ago to more than 50 million.
“That means that really the issue that we are working on is still going up and up in terms of the numbers of people that are affected,” he said.
He cautioned that official estimates could still underestimate the true scale of the crisis because many victims remain outside formal statistics.
According to the Global Estimates of Modern Slavery, an estimated 50 million people were living in modern slavery on any given day in 2021.
In Kenya, the Global Slavery Index 2023 estimates that 269,000 people were living in modern slavery, equivalent to five people in every 1,000. The National Council on Children’s Services has separately estimated that approximately 17,500 Kenyans are trafficked annually, with half likely to be minors.
Former United States Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons John Richmond warned that technology was becoming an increasingly important tool for traffickers.
“Traffickers have always taken advantage of every new technology,” Richmond said.
He said the rapid growth of the internet and generative artificial intelligence had created new opportunities for criminal networks to facilitate trafficking and exploitation.
“The idea that traffickers wouldn't be using the internet and generative AI is foolish. They're definitely using it,” Richmond said.
However, Richmond noted that technology could also be turned against traffickers by helping authorities identify perpetrators, locate victims and connect survivors to essential support services.
“But people of goodwill can also use technology to find the traffickers, figure out who they're exploiting, provide care and services to those victims, and hold the traffickers accountable,” he said.
Richmond further warned that the profitability of trafficking, coupled with the low likelihood of prosecution, continued to make exploitation an attractive criminal enterprise.
“They're making $236 billion a year from trafficking other people. Meanwhile, the chance of getting caught and held accountable is incredibly low,” he said.
He described trafficking as a “high reward, low risk criminal proposition,” calling for governments and communities to work together to change the conditions that allow perpetrators to operate with limited consequences.
Kenya, meanwhile, has taken steps to strengthen its response to exploitation. In 2024, the country was accepted as an Alliance 8.7 Pathfinder Country, committing to accelerate action against forced labour, modern slavery, human trafficking and child labour.
Assistant Labour Commissioner in the Child Labour Division at the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection Artlibert Makori said Kenya was strengthening labour inspection, social protection, responsible business conduct and access to justice while promoting meaningful engagement with survivors and affected communities.
“As an Alliance 8.7 Pathfinder Country, Kenya remains committed to accelerating action towards eliminating forced labour, modern slavery, human trafficking and child labour through stronger labour inspection, social protection, responsible business conduct, access to justice and meaningful engagement of survivors and communities,” Makori said.
He said Kenya was also strengthening bilateral labour agreements and cooperation with destination countries to improve recruitment procedures, protect workers' wages and contracts and strengthen safeguards against trafficking and forced labour.
“Ethical recruitment and accountability must remain at the heart of the labour migration journey,” he said.
Survivor leadership is also central to the forum, with people with lived experience taking part in discussions on protection, recovery, livelihoods and policy development.
Shamere McKenzie, CEO of Sun Gate Foundation and a survivor leader, said survivors should not merely be consulted but empowered to influence decisions affecting the movement against modern slavery.
“As a survivor leader, I know what it feels like to have decisions made about your life without your voice ever being part of the conversation, which is why this Forum mattered so deeply,” McKenzie said.
She said the forum had affirmed the value of lived experience in developing effective responses.
“The forum did more than make space for survivors, it affirmed that our lived experience is expertise, strengthened commitments to share power, and opened doors for survivor leaders to shape the decisions, policies, and solutions that will define the future of this movement,” she said.
The forum is examining responsible business and supply-chain regulation, ethical recruitment, forced marriage, child domestic work, refugee trafficking risks, recovery and technology-facilitated trafficking.
As the forum continues on Tuesday, participants are expected to focus on developing practical commitments and a roadmap for systemic transformation, including the adoption of the Principles for Aligned Action to End Modern Slavery.
Organisers say the ultimate goal is to ensure the Nairobi discussions translate into sustained action beyond the forum, with stronger accountability, survivor leadership and coordinated international efforts at the centre of the global fight against modern slavery.
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