About Us

Modern slavery refers to the recruitment, movement, or exploitation of children, women, or men through force, coercion, deception, or abuse of vulnerability. In supply chains, it commonly appears through exploitative recruitment, debt bondage, child labour, withheld wages, passport retention, excessive working hours, and abusive working conditions.

It is a key element of the social pillar in ESG frameworks, reflecting how companies respect human rights and uphold ethical labour standards across their operations and value chains. Addressing modern slavery risks requires ensuring that workers, particularly the most vulnerable, are employed freely, treated fairly, and protected from exploitation.

The Mekong Club partners with the private sector to embed sustainable practices that prevent modern slavery globally.

Thirty years ago, Matt Friedman, CEO and founder of The Mekong Club, worked as a senior USAID public health official across Asia, focused on education and prevention of HIV/AIDS in small rural communities.

As part of Matt’s work, he visited many shelters where he repeatedly heard the same themes of horror. Matt soon realised that exploitation was happening in the sex industry but also permeates global supply chains, from factories to farms to fishing boats.

Matt began to work in the United Nations in the anti-trafficking world, where he worked closely with the public and private sectors across Asia. During his tenure, he noticed a gap in engagement with the private sector in their anti-trafficking efforts. Not because they didn’t want to, but because they feared being named or shamed for approaching a UN official to ask for help.

As a result, Matt left the United Nations and started The Mekong Club in Asia’s financial centre, Hong Kong, to provide a safe space for companies around the world to collaborate on identifying and addressing labour exploitation in the private sector.