Modern slavery affects an estimated 50 million people worldwide, generating over US$236 billion annually in illegal profits. Addressing these exploitative systems requires financial innovation, responsible investment, and cross-sector collaboration. 

At the 2025 ECOSOC Partnership Forum, UNDP’s Sustainable Finance Hub and the Finance Against Slavery and Trafficking (FAST) Initiative, in partnership with the Permanent Mission of Liechtenstein, convened a high-level roundtable to explor how sustainable finance mechanisms can disrupt modern slavery, empower survivors, and foster inclusive financial systems that prevent exploitation.

• The critical role of financial inclusion in reducing vulnerabilities that lead to modern slavery and human trafficking.
• The need for tailored financial services to help survivors overcome employment barriers, such as criminal records and lack of education.
• The importance of long-term, flexible funding models that do not require excessive documentation, ensuring unrestricted cash support for survivors.
• The impact of responsible financial systems in addressing the economic factors that drive exploitation.
• The role of technology in financial services to reach disenfranchised populations while preventing misuse by traffickers.
• The necessity of cross-sector collaboration among governments, financial institutions, and civil society to create sustainable financial solutions.
• How institutional investors and private sector donors can lead efforts in creating just and ethical financial systems.
• How digitization and government-to-person payments can improve access to financial services but also pose risks if unregulated.

Social finance has the power to address structural vulnerabilities that perpetuate human trafficking and forced labour. Financial inclusion, government-to-person digital payments, and innovative credit mechanisms can provide a critical safety net for at-risk populations. However, unregulated financial technologies, including AI-driven lending platforms, can also expose individuals to fraud and deepen their vulnerability to exploitation. Regulatory safeguards are needed to prevent misuse while ensuring financial services reach those in need.

Survivors of human trafficking face significant barriers to financial stability, including a lack of formal identification, limited access to employment, and financial abuse histories. The roundtable highlighted the importance of tailored financial products that prioritize flexibility and accessibility. Alternative credit-building programs, trust-based funding models, and long-term financial literacy initiatives were identified as essential in helping survivors reintegrate into the economy. 

As one speaker noted, “Financial control is a key element of exploitation. Survivors need financial tools that don’t just restore independence but also provide long-term stability.” 

Financial institutions have a critical role to play in disrupting the business models that sustain modern slavery. The roundtable called for financial service providers to embed human rights due diligence into their investment and lending practices. Responsible investment, impact-driven microfinance, and social bonds can channel capital toward ethical business models while reducing the risk of exploitation.

Governments, financial institutions, civil society, and the private sector must work together to develop financial ecosystems that prevent exploitation. Institutional investors and private donors are encouraged to integrate modern slavery prevention into ESG frameworks and impact investment portfolios.

With collective action, social finance can serve as a catalyst for a world free from modern slavery.

Recommendations for action include:

1. Financial Institutions & Investors – Integrate human rights due diligence into investment and lending decisions, ensuring that capital flows support ethical and inclusive business models.
2. Governments & Regulators – Strengthen regulatory frameworks to encourage responsible social finance initiatives, ensuring that microfinance, impact investing, and survivor-centered financial programs are accessible, ethical, and protected from misuse.
3. Private Sector & Employers – Develop survivor-inclusive hiring and entrepreneurship programs, ensuring access to financial literacy training, fair credit mechanisms, and job opportunities that foster long-term economic independence.
4. Development Agencies & Civil Society – Expand partnerships to scale up social finance solutions, ensuring long-term, flexible funding mechanisms that support survivors’ economic reintegration.
5. Enhance Financial Inclusion – Expand access to banking, credit, and tailored financial services for vulnerable populations, ensuring they have the resources to achieve economic stability and avoid exploitation.
6. Develop Flexible Funding Mechanisms – Establish long-term, unrestricted cash support that empowers survivors of trafficking to rebuild their financial independence without bureaucratic barriers.
7. Foster Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships – Strengthen collaboration among governments, financial institutions, civil society, and private sector actors for social finance solutions that have sustainable impact.
8. Strengthen Regulatory Frameworks – Establish policies that enhance the role of social finance, ensuring that microfinance, impact investing, and survivor-centered financial programs are ethical, accessible, and shielded from misuse.

By aligning financial strategies with social impact, diverse stakeholders can transform finance into a force for justice, equity, and sustainable development – and put survivors and vulnerable populations at the center of financial innovation.