A Decade of Impact
In ten years, Arise Foundation has directly impacted the lives of 222,870 people. Its work has reached more than 100 cities and areas, supporting frontline leaders and local organisations working in communities where the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking are greatest. Behind those numbers is a decade of extraordinary growth, but also a remarkably consistent idea: lasting change begins with the people who know their communities best.
That belief has shaped Arise from the beginning. Rather than imposing solutions from outside, the Foundation works alongside frontline groups, strengthening the people and organisations already protecting vulnerable communities. Funding matters, but so do knowledge, relationships and trust. By investing in all four, Arise has helped local partners extend their reach, strengthen their organisations and create change that lasts beyond the life of an individual grant.
The scale of what has been achieved is perhaps most striking in India. Over the past decade, Arise has supported 116 projects, reaching more than 136,000 vulnerable people. At the same time, more than 24,000 people working to prevent modern slavery and human trafficking have been supported through training and network development, strengthening the wider movement working to protect vulnerable communities.
The numbers are significant, but the strength of Arise’s work lies in what sits behind them. Frontline organisations understand their communities in a way that cannot be replicated from afar. They know where vulnerability lies, recognise when circumstances are changing and have built the relationships and trust that allow them to respond. Arise’s role has been to stand alongside them, helping to turn that local knowledge into greater reach and lasting impact.
The value of that approach became particularly clear during the Covid-19 pandemic. Lockdowns stripped families of incomes and support almost overnight, leaving already vulnerable communities at greater risk of exploitation. With partners already embedded in the communities they served, Arise was able to respond quickly. Across four stages of its Covid response, 97,497 people were reached, from emergency assistance in the first months of the crisis to longer-term support helping families rebuild their resilience.
Across India, Nigeria, Albania and the Philippines, that same principle has taken many different forms. Prevention can mean helping families recognise the tactics used by traffickers, supporting survivors as they rebuild their lives, creating safer routes to employment or equipping those most likely to encounter people at risk. It can also mean bringing frontline organisations together, sharing knowledge and building networks that make each organisation stronger.
Over ten years, those partnerships have grown into something larger. Alongside funding individual projects, Arise has helped strengthen organisations, connect frontline leaders and build networks through which knowledge and experience can be shared. The result is an impact that reaches beyond any single grant, as stronger organisations and better-connected leaders are able to support and protect more people within their communities.
Ten years on, Arise has much to be proud of, but we do not rest. Hundreds of thousands of lives have been impacted, frontline organisations have grown stronger and people working to prevent modern slavery and human trafficking have been connected, trained and equipped to reach further.
What began with a belief in the power of local action has become a decade of evidence of what can be achieved when frontline organisations are given the support to grow and strengthen. Behind every number is a person, a family or a community, and behind that impact are the local leaders who understand where the risks lie and how best to respond.
As Arise enters its second decade, those partnerships remain at the heart of its work, providing a strong foundation for everything still to come.
