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New digital platform to foster construction supply chains free of forced labor

New digital platform to foster construction supply chains free of forced labor

Will provide transparency on where building materials come from and how they are made.


By Peter Fabris, Contributing Editor  | September 28, 2022
Construction Supply Chain
Courtesy Pexels.

Design for Freedom by Grace Farms and the U.S. Coalition on Sustainability formed a partnership to advance shared goals regarding sustainable and ethical building material supply chains that are free of forced labor.

SustainChain, the coalition’s technology platform, uses advanced digital technology and machine learning to bring together innovators, impact investors, businesses, NGOs, and public-private sector alliances to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). That program is a comprehensive plan consisting of 17 interrelated goals that address and resolve global humanitarian challenges.

“The next step in architectural justice is to include social equity and ethical material transparency in the evaluation of our supply chains so we can understand where our building materials come from and how they are made,” said Grace Farms Foundation CEO and founder Sharon Prince. “Design for Freedom is doing just that—raising awareness of forced labor embedded in our building materials and initializing responses to disrupt forced labor in the building materials supply chain and to come together to create more transparency.”

“As a first of its kind accelerator for achieving a more just and sustainable world, SustainChain is providing a free public utility designed to unify and rapidly scale sustainability efforts,” said Jacqueline Corbelli, founder of the US Coalition on Sustainability and creator of SustainChain.

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