Haiti’s Financial Institutions Must Act to Protect Against Modern Slavery, Experts Urge

Haiti is currently facing a crisis that has left its citizens vulnerable to various risks, including kidnappings, violence, and sexual exploitation. However, financial experts emphasize the crucial role of the country’s financial institutions in preventing modern slavery.

Widespread Poverty and Hunger Create Susceptibility to Trafficking

According to a recent report by the United Nations Human Rights Office, Haiti is plagued by widespread poverty and hunger, making its citizens highly susceptible to trafficking for forced labor and other forms of modern slavery. The country’s financial sector has been identified as a key player in anti-trafficking efforts.

Challenges Facing Haiti’s Financial Sector

Despite its critical importance, Haiti’s financial sector faces significant challenges, including:

• Lack of access to financial services: Many Haitians lack access to formal financial services, making them vulnerable to exploitation.
• High risk of financial exclusion: The country was placed under “increased monitoring” by the Financial Action Task Force in 2021 due to deficiencies in its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regime.

Study Highlights Importance of Community-Created Financial Services

A recent study by the United Nations University’s Finance Against Slavery and Trafficking (FAST) initiative found that a lack of money and access to financial services are the main drivers of vulnerability to exploitation for Haitian migrants. The report also identified community-created financial services as assets that serve as protective factors for underserved populations.

Experts Call for Four Key Steps

To address these challenges, experts recommend taking the following four key steps:

• Support collaborative efforts: Offer diverse formal financial services to underserved populations in Haiti.
• Explore informal financial services: Safeguard and enhance community-created financial services in Haiti.
• Prioritize vulnerable populations: Prioritize those most vulnerable to experiencing modern slavery within financial inclusion strategies and economic empowerment activities.
• Monitor unintended consequences: Monitor for unintended consequences such as increased or sustained financial exclusion during and post the current UN targeted sanction regime.

Public-Private Partnerships Crucial

The report highlights the importance of public-private partnerships with financial sector integration, including investors, to improve practices and policies for identifying, reducing, addressing, and preventing ongoing modern slavery risks in Haiti.

Conclusion

“Haiti faces a precarious future,” said [report author]. “But vulnerabilities to modern slavery can be substantially reduced if the financial sector and international community play a constructive role and navigate the humanitarian crisis carefully to protect and extend financial inclusion to the poorest and most marginalized.”

By working together to address these issues, experts say that Haiti can reduce its vulnerability to modern slavery and build a more secure future for its citizens.