Foundation established by Omidyar and his wife set up fund to raise at least $100 mln to combat modern slavery
LONDON, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Ebay founder EBAY.O Pierre Omidyar and his wife are to donate an extra $50 million to tackling slavery worldwide, the chief executive of their US-based foundation Humanity United said on Wednesday.
Almost 36 million people are living as slaves across the globe, according to estimates published by Australian-based human rights group The Walk Free Foundation on Monday, with more than 14 million of those in India. (Full Story)
"One of the greatest challenges of this era is the abolition of slavery globally in all of its forms," Humanity United CEO Randy Newcomb told Trust Women, a London conference organised by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Humanity United, established by Omidyar and his wife Pam in 2005, was involved in founding The Freedom Fund, the world's first private donor fund designed to raise and deploy at least $100 million to combat modern-day slavery.
The Omidyars, through Humanity United, have already supported more than $50 million in anti-slavery efforts over the past five years, a spokesman for their foundation said.
"Pam and Pierre ... they have agreed to commit another $50 million to this cause and to this effort," Newcomb said.
(Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
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