Winrock International & Concordia Join Forces In Campaign Against Labor Trafficking
Partnership Aims to Reduce Labor Trafficking in Global Supply Chains
NEW YORK, September 20th, 2016 – Winrock International, the U.S.-based international development organization, together with Concordia, a nonprofit that enables effective public-private partnerships, today announced a new partnership as part of the Concordia Campaign Against Labor Trafficking.
The groundbreaking partnership will work toward the development of a collaborative, standards-based, industry-wide approach to address human rights and labor abuses in the fishing industry. The partnership will connect local and global initiatives and will forge relationships with actors across global supply chains, including buyers and sellers and importing and exporting countries.
“We’re thrilled to be partnering with Concordia,” said Winrock President and CEO Rodney Ferguson, who chaired today’s summit session on the Concordia Campaign Against Labor Trafficking. “Concordia is the premier platform for public-private partnerships, and Winrock and Concordia together represent a formidable combination of thought leadership and implementation skills for tackling some of the world’s most pressing challenges. We look forward to a long and fruitful alliance.”
“This is a watershed moment for Concordia, and we’re thrilled to be partnering with an implementing partner as innovative as Winrock International,” said Nicholas M. Logothetis, Co-Founder and Chairman of Concordia. “We started Concordia to have a direct impact on the ground, and while convening and research are important, our ultimate objective is on-the-ground impact — and that’s what this partnership aims to produce. In many ways all of our work over the last six years has led up to this.”
The partnership will foster the development of industry-wide human rights and labor standards for supply chains and distribution systems, establish a transparent collective governance mechanism to enforce these standards and create public-private partnerships to eradicate labor trafficking and human rights abuses. The partnership will collaborate with anti-trafficking leaders active in the Thai Fishing Industry and build on existing efforts to achieve greater impact. The partnership is founded on the belief that a solution based on public-private partnerships is necessary to reduce labor trafficking in supply chains.
“The Concordia-Winrock partnership represents the future of international development impact,” said Winrock’s Chris “Kiff” Gallagher, Vice President of Business Development and External Affairs, who led the partnership effort for Winrock. “By combining deep private sector collaboration with broad public engagement strategies, this model can address many of the toughest challenges faced by governments, industries, communities and consumers worldwide.”
“The public-private partnership model is a powerful tool to help multinational corporations purge their supply chains of slave labor,” said Matthew Swift, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of Concordia. “The Campaign Against Labor Trafficking will pair Winrock’s groundbreaking work in this area with Concordia’s ability to convene leaders and raise awareness — a combination that has significant potential to catalyze real change on this issue.”
ABOUT WINROCK INTERNATIONAL:
Winrock International is a recognized leader in U.S. and international development with a focus on social, agricultural and environmental issues. Inspired by its namesake, Winthrop Rockefeller, Winrock combines scientific and technical expertise with entrepreneurial innovation to deliver market-based solutions that improve lives around the world. Winrock’s mission is to empower the disadvantaged, increase economic opportunity and sustain natural resources across the globe.
ABOUT CONCORDIA:
Concordia is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that enables effective public-private partnerships to create a more prosperous and sustainable future. As equal parts convener, campaigner, and idea incubator, Concordia is creating a new model for how a nonpartisan, nonprofit can have a global impact. Matthew A. Swift and Nicholas M. Logothetis founded Concordia in 2011. Learn more at www.concordia.net.
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CONTACT:
Dave Anderson dave.anderson@winrock.org 501-280-3066
Logan Koffler media@concordia.net 646-561-3508