The Freedom Evening event, held in conjunction with the Freedom Hub who work to eliminate modern slavery, was a great opportunity to hear from Mitos about how Fair Trade works to deliver employment, humanitarian care and training opportunities in Asia. Mitos highlighted the current situation on the Thai-Myanmar border - with increasing numbers of refugees crossing in desperation from Myanmar - and how WEAVE is working with them.

Refugees are particularly vulnerable to exploitation which makes the link to modern slavery and human trafficking extremely pertinent.

The Freedom Hub provides retraining and support for survivors of slavery in Australia through their own school. The school is funded by a range of ethical products and a cafe/event venue. Freedom Hub also helps businesses to ensure that they have no slavery in their supply chains and collaborates with partners to end global slavery.

Both events brought good connections with like-minded businesses, individuals new to fair trade, and possible future collaborators such as the Freedom Hub, as well as the chance to reconnect with fair trade friends whom we have known for a long time.  

On Monday Mitos visited the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and spoke with business and law students, who showed a lot of enthusiasm for bringing more transparency and equality to the world of international trade. We firmly believe that the future of Fair Trade advocacy is in the hands of the next generation and so this was a valuable opportunity to engage with young people.

Mitos’ first-hand experience over thirty years in Northern Thailand brought an authenticity and an urgency to the talks which she gave. Never has there been a better time to advocate for Fair Trade to become the mainstream business model worldwide.

If those who attended are indicative of the population then Sydney is ready for change.