In Senegal, communities are coming together to confront one of the most visible yet complex forms of child exploitation: forced street begging among talibé children. A recent forum in Parcelles Assainies brought religious leaders, local authorities, civil society, and community members into a shared conversation about responsibility, root causes, and solutions. Moving beyond dialogue, the forum marked a shift toward coordinated action, with a clear plan to strengthen accountability, support Quranic schools, and protect children with dignity.

Free the Slaves, as Convener of the Freedom from Slavery Forum, together with the leadership of the 2026 Global Forum Planning Committee, announce that the 2026 Freedom from Slavery Global Forum will be postponed and relocated. The Forum will now take place in Nairobi, Kenya, from 5–6 October 2026.

Every child deserves to be a Batang Malaya, free to learn, play, and grow without exploitation. At the Midterm Assessment of the Philippine Program Against Child Labor, Free the Slaves joined government, civil society, and international partners to examine progress, confront ongoing challenges, and strengthen the path toward eliminating child labor. This blog highlights key insights from the assessment and the role of survivor-centered and community-based approaches in building a more effective national response.

To mark the 10th anniversary of CNN’s #MyFreedomDay campaign, Free the Slaves collaborated with youth advocates across the Caribbean to highlight both milestones achieved and the urgent need for survivors and young people with disabilities to have a seat at the table in shaping the policies designed to protect them.

At the 6th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour, Alliance 8.7 marked ten years of partnership with a forward-looking conversation about what it will take to turn commitments into real protection for children. Governments, employers, workers’ representatives, international agencies, business leaders, and survivor advocates came together around a shared truth: progress is possible, but only sustained, coordinated, and survivor-centered action will close the gap between promises and impact.

In Kathmandu, thousands of children work behind closed doors as domestic workers, largely unseen and unprotected. A new report from Free the Slaves and CWISH Nepal brings their experiences into focus and examines the structural forces that sustain child domestic labor. But research alone is not enough. This work moves beyond documentation to action, engaging employers, civil society, local government, and children themselves to drive coordinated change rooted in evidence and lived experience.