Over 2,000 students from Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia will take part in a 24 Hour Race in their countries respectively in their bid to combat modern day slavery.

The 24 Hour Race is a global youth pioneered movement that aims to raise RM3.1 million in funds this year to be channelled to the movement’s anti-slavery partners in Nepal,Hong Kong, Cambodia, Singapore and Malaysia.

Executive Director of the 24 Hour Race Kuala Lumpur Cindy Leow said, “Our only goal is to give rise to more leaders to be frontliners of the modern slavery cause. It’s time for a massive global call-to-action to create urgency about modern slavery. This is it.”

The race via various youth engagement measures through fundraising and awareness activities aim to extend their helping hand to charities like SUKA Society (Malaysia) and Circus Kathmandu (Nepal).

These charities focus on the rehabilitation of child slaves and their reintegration into education, society and the working world, creating a stronger impact on the lives of child slaves.

“This is where the 24 Hour Race steps in. We bring the issue to the surface. We make it real. We make it worth fighting for,” said the Advocacy and Impact Director Elena Ortiz.

Not only are these students fundraising and creating awareness for these charities, they are also calling for legal changes to be made by the White House in the United States of America.

These legal changes are hoped to bring the perpetrators of human trafficking and modern slavery to a standstill.

The petition to call for action was launched on November 5, 2015, during the #LightForFreedom gala fundraiser event organised by the the students to accomplish their RM600,000 fundraising goal this year. For it to pass, this petition will require 100,000​ signatures within a month.

Those who are interested to support or donate for this cause can get more information from the website 24hourrace.org/