While blockchain was designed as a ledger for cryptocurrency transactions, it can record transactions of anything of value. Blockchain is increasingly used to prove the integrity of commodities, tracing their supply chain journey from the source to the end user. Yet, transferring this technology from a cryptocurrency context to a supply chain setting is not without difficulties. This article explores the implications for multinational and transnational companies in using blockchain as a means to address modern slavery. The paper identifies five challenges: verification, inclusion, trust, privacy, and normativity.
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Eradicating modern slavery is one of the big challenges of our time
There are currently an estimated 40.3 million people enslaved around the world. If we are to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goal to end modern slavery by 2030, then around 10 000 people need to escape from slavery each day.
Although people are becoming increasingly aware that modern slavery exists, it remains a phenomenon that is too often dismissed, underestimated or misunderstood. There is often confusion about what ‘modern slavery’ actually means as there is no one definition.
Continue reading Eradicating modern slavery is one of the big challenges of our time
Can Blockchain help to break the chains of modern slavery?
There’s a good chance the device on which you are reading this contains cobalt. It’s an essential metal for batteries in phones and laptops. There’s also a chance the cobalt was mined by slaves. Continue reading Can Blockchain help to break the chains of modern slavery?