GLOW

Vietnam is a major source country for modern slavery victims, trafficked to the UK, China, Cambodia, and beyond. Survivors struggle to rebuild their lives due to a lack of access to critical reintegration services to address the trauma faced and trafficking risk factors, including financial resources and job opportunities with liveable wages. This perpetuates vulnerability, often leading to re-victimization or becoming traffickers themselves. The Vietnam Ministry of Public Security estimates that at least 60% of traffickers arrested are former victims. The 2024 US Trafficking in Persons report placed Vietnam in Tier 2, highlighting the need for improved counter-trafficking efforts and better victim identification. Only 5 out of the 4,100 potential victims exploited in online scam operations since mid-2022 were formally identified (US Department of State 2024).  

Push and pull factors include socioeconomic disparities, gender inequality, and rapid technological growth. Over 70% of survivors supported by Pacific Links Foundation were trafficked via social media. Women, girls, youth, and migrant workers from economically disadvantaged backgrounds in Vietnam are particularly vulnerable to modern slavery due to misinformation about jobs, manipulation, and traffickers posing as labor brokers with false promises of better job opportunities. Lack of awareness, skills, and socio-economic pressures exacerbate the problem. Informal workers (69% of Vietnamese workers) are especially vulnerable to trafficking; approximately 155,000 workers went abroad under labor contracts in 2023 alone (US State Department 2024). 

Globally, modern slavery is a rapidly growing $236 billion a year industry (ILO 2024), enslaving over 50 million people in forced sexual and labor exploitation (ILO & Walk Free Foundation 2023). Asia and the Pacific is the third most vulnerable region (ILO & Walk Free Foundation 2023), with traffickers primarily targeting women and girls (UNODC 2020). The rise in forced criminality is changing trafficking hotspots and victim profiles. Forced criminality victims are now coming from across Vietnam rather than selected regions, and are often educated, tech-savvy, and multilingual males (OHCHR 2023). An estimated 300,000 victims from over 60 countries are enslaved in scam centers in Southeast Asia, generating $43 billion annually (US Institute of Peace 2024).

Leveraging technology, our solution, GLOW, enables us to scale and quickly pivot with changing trends to empower survivors with resources for financial, psychological, and social well-being to break the cycle of exploitation. GLOW can be adapted to other countries facing similar challenges. 

GLOW (Growing Learning Opportunities Worldwide) is an innovative online platform designed to connect survivors of modern slavery with essential resources to develop life skills, workforce readiness, and access to on-demand mental health support.

GLOW provides: 

1. On-demand mental health support with qualified/licensed mental health professionals over secured communication channels, helping survivors cope with trauma and build resilience.  

2. On-demand career counseling with trained counselors/social workers to help survivors identify and pursue suitable professions. 

3. Self-paced courses on topics such as English language development, financial literacy, information technology, safe migration, and modern slavery prevention, enable users to learn and develop skills at their convenience.

4. Workshops and training sessions to enhance employability, including resume building, interview preparation, and job search strategies. 

5. AI-driven tools to provide personalized English language feedback and interactive learning experiences. 

6. Referrals to additional reintegration services.

GLOW is a web application optimized for mobile devices, integrating AI technology to provide personalized learning experiences and secure communication channels to ensure privacy in mental health support sessions and user interactions. Through self-paced learning, workforce readiness training, and mental health support, GLOW helps survivors rebuild their lives and achieve long-term stability and independence.

Ethical and responsible use of technology, particularly AI, is central to GLOW. We manage risks through thorough risk assessments, robust safeguarding measures, and strict adherence to ethical standards. 

Privacy and Security Concerns: End-to-end encryption for all communications and data storage is used. Access to personal data is limited to authorized personnel, following stringent data protection regulations, like GDPR, to ensure user information is safeguarded. Counseling sessions are conducted over secure channels to ensure confidentiality. 

Safeguarding Measures: Established rigorous safeguarding policies are in place with regular monitoring of interactions. Staff, volunteers and associates undergo mandatory safeguarding training to ensure adherence to our policies. Sessions and interactions with users are recorded for quality assurance and safeguarding purposes.

Regular Risk Assessments: Ongoing risk assessments are conducted to improve safety protocols. Our AI-driven English learning tools have been tested with 1,500+ users annually, maintaining minimal risks. We maintain transparency in AI operations and ensure that AI systems are regularly audited for fairness and accuracy.

Ethical and Responsible AI Use: Ethical frameworks like UNESCO’s Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence are adhered to, including principles such as avoiding harm, ensuring fairness and bias mitigation, and maintaining data privacy and confidentiality. We are transparent about how AI is used within GLOW and regularly review AI outcomes and make adjustments to address ethical concerns. Users are fully informed about the data collection process and how their data will be used, with the right to withdraw at any time.

Community Involvement and Feedback: Our Survivor Advisory Board provides ongoing insights and feedback, ensuring GLOW aligns with ethical standards and user needs. Board members receive training on the latest ethical standards to provide meaningful feedback. We also actively seek user feedback to ensure ethical alignment and continuous improvement. 

By integrating these measures, we ensure that GLOW provides ethical, responsible, and secure support for survivors, maintaining user trust through our commitment to ethical technology use and safeguarding practices.

Over 90% of the 1,500+ survivors of modern slavery supported by Pacific Links Foundation in Vietnam are young women and girls aged 15-25 from low-income families, facing numerous challenges, including limited education, economic opportunities, and tech skills. Many have experienced sexual exploitation and come from ethnic minority tribes with limited Vietnamese literacy They may also reside in climate-impacted regions like the Mekong Delta. Increasingly, we also support men and boys in forced criminality cases, who are typically more educated, tech-savvy, and multilingual. Both groups often face significant pressure to support their families and have limited access to wellness skills, mental health support, and better job opportunities. 

GLOW provides inclusive and individualized support to minimize re-trafficking risks by increasing access to economic opportunities and wellbeing skills, taking into account the survivor’s gender, age, identity, family circumstances, language, and other factors. It also considers diverse cultural, social, economic, and political backgrounds. GLOW is co-designed and co-implemented with survivors and other community members to ensure their perspectives on what is needed is prioritized. Key features include:  

1. Customized Education and Skills Development: Tailored life skills and workforce readiness courses and workshops enhance employability, with AI-driven tools providing personalized feedback, such as for English language improvement.  

2. Personalized On-Demand Mental Health Support & Career Counseling: Survivors can access trained/licensed via secure channels to cope with trauma and build resilience for wellbeing, choosing counselors based on needs.

3. Mobile Accessibility: GLOW is optimized for mobile devices, with training provided to bridge tech skill gaps, ensuring easy access to resources and support, leveraging Vietnam’s high smartphone (84%) and internet (79%) penetration rate (Statista 2024, DataReportal 2024).

4. Empowerment and Autonomy: Survivors choose their courses and mental health professionals, fostering control and empowerment. Courses and services are recommended based on individual needs, with the option to discontinue at any time. 

By addressing these critical needs, GLOW creates a comprehensive support system, empowering survivors of modern slavery to rebuild their lives and thrive. GLOW offers essential resources to develop skills and a supportive community that understands and addresses the unique challenges faced by survivors.

Our approach to supporting survivors of modern slavery centers on close collaboration with survivors and communities at the grassroots level. Our experienced women-led, refugee-led, Vietnamese-led team brings decades of experience in youth and women empowerment, poverty alleviation, counter-trafficking, and social work. The all-Vietnamese women solution team has strong community ties, with many from/working for decades in the communities we serve. This fosters strong relationships and a continuous feedback loop, ensuring we stay attuned to the evolving needs of survivors and community members for a more effective and impactful survivor-centered solution. Key engagement strategies include: 

1. Survivor Advisory Board: With current/former beneficiaries and survivors from the broader community in Vietnam, the Board provides valuable insights to shape GLOW. We offer leadership and capacity-building training to ensure meaningful engagement, prioritizing survivor-led activities and those initiated by survivors. 

2. Local Partnerships: Collaborating with local governments (Department of Social Vices Prevention, etc.), law enforcement (Border Guards, etc.), schools, and other organizations aligns our efforts with community needs and prevents duplication. These stakeholders also offer valuable ongoing input. 

3. Community Hiring: We prioritize hiring survivors and community members, enhancing understanding and trust. For example, Nho, a former scholarship recipient, now manages the same scholarship program she once benefited from, exemplifying our commitment to empowerment.

Since 2006, we have provided survivor-informed, trauma-informed reintegration services to 1,500+ survivors, maintaining regular contact with 40+ survivors, some of whom graduated from our programs 5+ years ago. These ongoing relationships offer continuous feedback, meaningfully guiding our survivor-centered solution with genuine input, ideas, and agendas. 

By integrating these approaches, our survivor-centered solution is co-designed and co-implemented with survivors and the community. This grassroots involvement ensures relevance, effectiveness, and a collaborative environment where survivors and community members feel ownership and investment in the success of GLOW, fundamental to sustaining its impact.

Since its 2020 launch, GLOW has benefited 33,000+ individuals across Vietnam, including 31,500+ factory and migrant workers, 1,500+ disadvantaged students annually, survivors of modern slavery, and responders globally. Tailored content ensures each demographic only accesses appropriate resources. We also partner with a survivor-led organization to host their survivor leadership content on GLOW. 

GLOW currently provides 21 self-paced English courses, 10 skills courses, 3 capacity-building courses, and 3 AI-driven English learning tools. Course topics include human trafficking prevention, safe migration, forced labor prevention, communications, teamwork, leadership, personal finances, gender equality, information technology, and health and nutrition. Users have logged 45,600+ self-learning hours. Additionally, GLOW has hosted 3,000+ hours of on-demand English tutoring with trained volunteers worldwide, 500+ life skills and career orientation workshops, and 900+ mentoring hours. 80% improved English language proficiency and 90% reported the workshops helped them develop skills useful for their future career. The on-demand English tutoring model is being adapted for on-demand mental health support and career counseling for survivors of modern slavery. 

Our progress has been supported by grants and service contracts from organizations like the United Nations, the US Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City, Rotary, Abercrombie & Fitch, Walmart Foundation, and private foundations and donors. We have also received in-kind support from Microsoft Azure and Amazon AWS for server space.

We are applying to the Challenge to overcome several key barriers and advance by: 

1. Gaining Visibility to expand our global support network to connect with strategic partners and obtain pro bono support for white-labeling, licensing, marketing, and platform development to incorporate additional innovations. 

2. Receiving Mentorship from industry experts for valuable insights and guidance to refine our design, business model, branding, and marketing strategy. 

3. Obtaining Funding to scale our platform to reach more users, develop strategic partnerships, and increase our solution team’s capacity.  

4. Building Capacity to improve our methodologies for Participatory Design, Theory of Change, and Impact Metrics to better demonstrate our impact.

Participation in the Challenge will provide the visibility, funding, mentorship, and strategic partnerships needed to scale GLOW and enhance its impact, ultimately supporting survivors of modern slavery worldwide. 

GLOW is an innovative solution addressing significant barriers faced by survivors of modern slavery in accessing comprehensive reintegration services, particularly mental health support and opportunities for life skills and workforce readiness development. GLOW addresses this by leveraging proven technology to provide AI-driven online learning and on-demand mental health support and career counseling, co-designed for and by survivors. This scalable high-quality solution, the first of its kind in Vietnam, tackles key barriers:

1. Physical Barriers: Traditional mental health support is limited in Vietnam and often inaccessible in remote or underserved areas. GLOW delivers services directly to survivors, eliminating the need for travel.

2. Cultural Barriers: Private teletherapy reduces stigma around mental health by enabling survivors to access services discreetly from their homes, encouraging more widespread use. 

3. Systematic Barriers: Many disadvantaged communities lack mental health services, career counseling, and upskilling opportunities. GLOW’s AI-driven English learning tools and on-demand mental health support and career counseling offer cost-effective, critical skills development and mental health support for personal and professional growth. 

GLOW sets a new standard and represents a significant advancement in delivering reintegration services, addressing key barriers through a scalable, accessible, and culturally sensitive technology-driven solution. By demonstrating the effectiveness of the technology-driven solution, GLOW can inspire other organizations to adopt similar models, fostering innovation and improving service delivery across the sector. GLOW is designed to be scalable and adaptable to regions with similar challenges, extending access to underserved communities globally for more equitable access to mental health support and education. Collaboration with governments, NGOs, and other local and international organizations, including those led by survivors creates a network of support and enables this promising global impact. This approach can transform the market, laying the groundwork for broader systemic change and creating lasting positive impacts for survivors and their communities worldwide.

GLOW increases survivors of modern slavery’s well-being and growth, and economic opportunities by providing life skills, workforce readiness training, and mental health support.  

80% of users have improved their English language proficiency and 90% reported the workshops helped them develop skills that would be useful for their future career.

GLOW aims to transform the lives of survivors of modern slavery by providing essential life skills, workforce readiness and mental health support. Our impact goals and indicators, aligned with teh UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), ensure that survivors escape the cycle of exploitation and thrive personally and professionally. Our impact goals and Indicators include: 

1. Eliminate re-trafficking and forced labor risk

   1. Proportion of survivors re-trafficked, by type of modern slavery and age 

   2. Proportion of survivors choosing safe, regular, and responsible migration 

2. Increase the number of survivors who have relevant skills for well-being, employment, decent jobs, and entrepreneurship 

   1. Proportion of survivors with information and communications technology (ICT) skills, by type of skill and sex 

   2. Proportion of survivors with life skills, by type of skill and sex 

   3. Proportion of survivors reporting positive well-being (based on the eight wellbeing indicators, often referred to as SHANARRI (Safe, Healthy, Achieving, Nurtured, Active, Respected, Responsible, Included) 

3. Achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all survivors

   1. Average hourly earnings, by occupation, sex, and age

   2. Unemployment rate, by sex and age

   3. Proportion of youth (aged 15-24 years) not in education, employment, or training

4. Reduce the number of survivors living below the national poverty line 

   1. Proportion of survivors living below the national poverty line, by sex and age

5. Encourage and promote effective partnerships across sectors and borders to support survivors of modern slavery

   1. Number of strategic partnerships/customers 

To track progress, we use a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative data collection methods (surveys, focus groups, and interviews). This helps us understand the multifaceted impact of GLOW and address survivors’ evolving needs. Our commitment to continuous improvement ensures that GLOW remains effective and impactful, fostering long-term growth, empowerment, and economic independence for survivors of modern slavery. We regularly review our impact metrics and adjust our strategies accordingly.

GLOW is a web application developed using Moodle, an open-source learning management system written in PHP. We integrate several AI-driven tools to enhance the learning experience, including:

1. Speed Recognition API to help users improve English pronunciation and spoken skills by providing real-time feedback. 

2. Grammar and Spell Check API to ensure users’ written communication is grammatically correct and error-free for effective learning and professional development. 

Additionally, GLOW integrates with Zoom for one-on-one teletherapy video calls with volunteer counselors. GLOW also provides referrals to additional reintegration services, such as connecting with trained social workers via our support line, accessible by telephone and Zalo, a leading Vietnamese messaging app. Our platform’s analytics uses other web applications for enhanced data tracking. 

Optimized for mobile, GLOW ensures users from disadvantaged communities who may only have access to a smartphone, can access the platform anytime, anywhere. We plan to integrate more AI-driven capabilities for more advanced personalized learning pathways, adaptive learning technologies, analytics tools, and natural language processing tools. 

GLOW leverages technology to address educational and mental health support disparities, providing critical skills training and counseling to foster economic mobility and resilience among survivors of modern slavery. By blending modern and traditional technologies, GLOW ensures innovation and practicality in meeting survivors’ needs.

Full-time staff: 4

Contractors: 1

4 years

Pacific Links Foundation is a women-led, refugee-led, and Vietnamese-led organization, with three out of our four-person solution team based in Vietnam. Our solution team, composed entirely of Vietnamese women, collaborates with a diverse, interdisciplinary network of advisors and partners across Vietnam, Singapore, the US, and Europe, bringing expertise in social work, public health, mental health, nursing, user experience, technology, and teaching, among other.   

To enhance survivor engagement, we are formally creating a Survivor Advisory Board, including capacity building and leadership training to empower survivors to overcome unique and systemic barriers to meaningfully participate. We are also working to improve gender balance on our team, recognizing the rise in male survivors of modern slavery, particularly from forced criminality cases. Furthermore, we are providing leadership training to additional survivors, and at-risk women, youth, and migrants to increase their interest, confidence, and capacity to become part of our team in the future. This includes providing additional paid internship opportunities.   

Our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion is evident in our team composition and organizational practices. We prioritize hiring survivors and individuals from disadvantaged communities where we work. Survivor-led initiatives and projects driven by survivors are prioritized to reflect lived experiences. 

For over 20 years, we have co-created and co-implemented reintegration services with survivors, local communities, and governments. Our programs are inclusive and responsive to the changing needs of those served. By fostering a diverse and inclusive environment, we enhance our ability to address complex issues surrounding modern slavery and forced labor. 

Our business model focuses on scalability and sustainability, providing our key beneficiaries, survivors of modern slavery, with much-needed life skills, workforce readiness training, and mental health support. GLOW delivers reintegration services cost-effectively and efficiently, especially as we expand geographically. These services are free to survivors to use, crucial for their recovery, reintegration, and ability to thrive. 

Our key customers include government agencies, international organizations, and private foundations that benefit from our expertise in addressing modern slavery and supporting survivors. By partnering with governments, we can integrate our solution into national frameworks to reach more survivors. Additional customers include survivors purchasing advanced courses; other organizations servicing survivors licensing our platform and courses; and advertisers promoting relevant services and products. 

Our model blends free and low-cost services with strategic partnerships and diverse revenue streams, addressing the needs of survivors of modern slavery and supporting long-term sustainability and growth in Vietnam and beyond.

Our financial sustainability plan includes diverse revenue streams to ensure long-term viability and scalability. This includes:

1. Selling Products by charging fees for advanced courses on GLOW, balancing revenue generation with accessibility. 

2. Advertising by placing relevant and ethical advertisements and sponsored content on GLOW to generate additional revenue and introduce users to valuable resources. 

3. White-labeling & Licensing our platform and courses to other organizations, establishing a steady income stream. 

4. Service Contracts with government agencies for life skills and workforce readiness training and counseling for survivors. 

5. Sustained Donations & Grants by applying for multi-year grants from governments (e.g. US, UK), international organizations (e.g. United Nations, International Organization for Migration), private foundations, and other organizations in the counter-trafficking space; running regular crowdfunding campaigns; establishing an endowment fund for long-term financial health; securing matching grants to amplify donor impact; and encouraging survivors of modern slavery who achieve economic stability to contribute.

6. Pro Bono & Volunteer Support from trained/licensed professionals to provide mental health support, emotional support, and counseling, reducing costs while enhancing the support available to survivors. 

Since 2006, we have consistently provided comprehensive reintegration services to survivors of modern slavery in Vietnam, supported by funders such as the United Nations, International Organization for Migration, and private foundations, demonstrating trust and confidence in our solutions. Successful crowdfunding campaigns have expanded access to reintegration services. Our adaptable model, supported by successful funding and implementation, positions us for sustained impact and growth. 

This multi-faceted strategy, backed by a proven track record, ensures financial stability and scalability to meet evolving survivor needs, fostering long-term impact and sustainability.