Hello, Just to note that the figure of 27 million comes not from UNESCO but from my book Disposable People (though it has been picked up and passed around a great deal which is fine by me). There is in fact a reasonable estimate of what it will cost to eradicate slavery worldwide, something in the order of $10 billion. I won't go into the details of that estimate, but it does NOT assume ever buying someone out of slavery. That is a tactic of absolutely the last resort, since it is most akin to paying a burglar to get your TV back. If you are interested to know more please visit our website or that of our sister organization in the UK, Anti-Slavery International. A roadmap for global eradication of slavery is the subject of my book Ending Slavery, that will be published in Sept. 2007. - THANKS!

This is the source of my original quote Kevin in case you are trying to track it down. I know that I did not advocate buying someone out of slavery, and I think Steve's comment was intended to be ironic: contasting UK government failure on IT. I will look forward to your book when it comes out, happy to give it some PR when it comes out if you let me know. In addition we are planning some work on awareness in this area with Liverpool Museums shortly and I will blog details fo that when they are available.