Global slavery at a high, but reasons for hope

"For me, education and the economic empowerment of women are the most important things for eliminating child slavery," Annan says. His programs also reach out to women and parents.

Last year he quit his job to devote full time to the work and to advocating with government on children's behalf. "We have a human trafficking law, but there is lack of enforcement which undercuts our work," he says.

Still, he's encouraged. "I'm financially poorer, but in terms of inner peace I'm so rich. The children are happy, and if I had not set up this school the majority would be in bonded labor," he says. Annan will receive the Frederick Douglass Award for a former slave helping others find purpose in life.

Slaves liberated, firms confronted

Two daring Brazilian organizations are recipients of the Harriet Tubman Community Award: Comissão Pastoral de Terra (CPT) and Reporter Brasil have collaborated to liberate thousands of slaves and to harness the power of the marketplace to make slavery unprofitable.

CPT, a Roman Catholic church organization that works with the rural poor, began fighting slavery 30 years ago. In remote areas, it has confronted slaveholders on cattle ranches, in camps where logs are burned into charcoal used to make steel, on farms where slaves clear-cut forests in the Amazon. Each year, some 25,000 men seeking work are tricked into slavery with the promise of jobs. CPT files complaints with the ministry of labor and gives legal and social aid to escaped or freed slaves.

Before 1995, "the government denied the reality of slavery in Brazil," says the Rev. Xavier Plassat, who heads CPT. That year the president acknowledged it and created a mobile inspection squad of federal forces to parachute in and investigate claims.

"For many years that was considered the ideal solution ... but releasing slave workers is not eradicating slavery, it's only the first step," Father Plassat adds.

In 2001, a group of journalists and educators formed Reporter Brasil to research and expose the problem. When CPT uncovers cases of forced labor, Reporter Brasil traces the slave-made products to the businesses that distribute or use them. Then it takes the information to the businesses and encourages them to stop their purchases.

In 2003, one of the first acts of Brazil's current president was to initiate a national plan to end slavery.

"That was the first victory after years of pressure" by many groups, Plassat says. The plan led to new laws, strengthening of the mobile inspection squads, and publication of a "shame list" of offenders found to have slaves on their property. The list goes on the Internet for businesses and consumers to see. (Last week, the plan was updated to add more resources for prevention and rehabilitation, as well as economic sanctions against offenders.)

The list and the work of Reporter Brasil led to the formation of a corporate pact, under which more than 100 companies have pledged not to buy slave-made products.

"When Petrobras [the national energy company] decides to stop purchasing from an ethanol producer, as it did recently, that is very effective!" Plassat says.

From the charcoal business alone, some 28,000 slaves have been liberated.

"Brazil has a policy from the top and has put in the resources that, in proportional terms, no other country has done," says Bales.

Other award winners are Amihan Abueva of the Philippines, and Friends of Orphans, in Uganda. Ms. Abueva has worked for 20 years to end sexual exploitation of children, founding ECPAT International, which is active in 70 countries. Friends of Orphans helps reintegrate former child soldiers into society.

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