Tackling modern-day slavery: An interview with The Mekong Club

The Mekong Club is a leading Hong Kong-based association dedicated to uniting corporations to fight modern-day slavery. It is the only organization of its kind, originally formed as a direct response to the growing number of companies looking to develop strategies to address forced labor risk via a professional forum. 

Its focus lies on collaboration, working with companies in a positive, supportive way. It does this by identifying and developing practical, innovative, relevant tools to help corporations understand the potential vulnerabilities applicable to their businesses. By empowering the private sector to understand the risks of modern-day slavery and what they need to do in order to address it, they encourage and influence tangible business responses.

Awareness-raising and advocacy are core components of The Mekong Club’s strategy. Last year, the association received the 2019 Public Affairs Asia Gold Standard Award in the 'Thought Leadership' category for the use of technology to combat modern slavery. The organization is also one of the grantees of the second funding round of PMI IMPACT, a global initiative uniting organizations that fight illegal trade around the world and its related crimes. PMI IMPACT has created a platform for organizations and key stakeholders to implement impactful projects against illegal trade, and build innovative solutions to eradicate the illegal activities affecting the economy and threatening societal security.

STOP: ILLEGAL sat down with the CEO of The Mekong Club, Matt Friedman, to understand how the association is catalyzing change—engaging, inspiring, and supporting the private sector to lead in the fight to eradicate modern-day slavery.