Equidem

Background

Equidem is a London-based labor advocacy group that claims to investigate and advocate against human rights abuses in developing countries. The group is a registered charity in England and Wales. ^{4 5}

The group was originally founded in 2016 as Equidem Research and Consulting (ERC), a private for-profit company, by Mustafa Qadri. ^{6 7} ERC originally created Equidem as a separate legal entity in 2021. By May 2022, Equidem registered as an independent charity, with the group’s staff originally being part of ERC. Qadri is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Equidem and was the executive director of ERC. ⁸

Equidem is based in London, England but also has offices located in Nepal, India, Kenya, South Africa, the Gulf and Middle East, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Malaysia. ⁹

Activities

In 2020 Equidem was one of several human rights advocacy organizations to form a “civil society coalition” advocating action by countries within the Persian Gulf region to provide labor protection for workers during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Other groups that took part include Amnesty International, Global Labor Justice, Human Rights Watch, Humanity United, and the International Trade Union Confederation. ¹⁰

In 2021, Equidem released a report investigating alleged illegal labor practices that took place at the Expo 2020 Dubai. The report claimed to have found evidence of abuses including racial discrimination, forced labor, illegal recruitment fees, and not paying wages for migrant workers. ¹¹

In 2022, Equidem released a report on investigations into alleged labor abuses associated with migrant workers that constructed football stadiums in Qatar for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The report claimed to have uncovered “persistent and widespread labour rights violations” such as discrimination, illegal recruitment practices, and unpaid wages. ¹² The Qatar Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) released a statement denying the allegations, claiming the report was “littered with inaccuracies and misrepresentations.” ¹²

Partners

Equidem has partnered with several human rights and worker advocacy organizations including the International Domestic Workers Federation, Global Labor Justice-International Labor Rights Forum, and the Solidarity Center, as well as migrant-led organizations in Nepal. It has also partnered with international labor union federations. ¹³

Funding

According to its 2023 financial statements, Equidem reported an income of $882,168 and expenses at $467,504. ¹⁴

The group has received funding from left-of-center organizations including Open Society Foundations (OSF), Humanity United, Sigrid Rausing Trust, the Ford Foundation, and the Freedom Fund as major donors. ^{2 15 16 17 18 3}

Leadership

Mustafa Qadri is the founder and CEO of Equidem, and was founder and executive director of Equidem Research and Consulting (ERC). He earned a law degree with a qualification to practice law in New South Wales, Australia. In 2002, he was a legal practitioner at the Supreme Court of New South Wales. In 2003, he moved to London, England. In 2008, he worked as a journalist for The Guardian. In 2010, he consulted with Human Rights Watch and then with Amnesty International until 2016 when he founded ERC. In November 2020, he launched Equidem. ^{19 20}