"The guidebook – Supporting the Reintegration of Trafficked Persons: A Guidebook for the Greater Mekong Sub-Region – is for practitioners from government and non-government organizations alike, to address weaknesses in the current frameworks of victim assistance and reintegration in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS: Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam)."
UN ACT |New in 'Tools & Guidelines': Supporting the Reintegration of Trafficked Persons - A Guidebook for the Greater Mekong Sub-region - UN ACT |:
Showing posts with label World Vision. Show all posts
Showing posts with label World Vision. Show all posts
Sunday, April 16, 2017
Friday, February 15, 2013
World Vision: Senate Gave Hope to Modern Day Slaves, House Should Follow
http://www.christianpost.com/news/world-vision-senate-gave-hope-to-modern-day-slaves-house-should-follow-89969/#iU2fkSgIFKwGXSmd.99
Source: World Vision
Source: World Vision
By Alex Murashko , Christian Post Reporter
February 13, 2013|9:44 am
The Christian relief organization World Vision applauded the U.S. Senate passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act on Tuesday, but said the bill remains at risk unless the House also acts.
"This was a time to lead in the fight against modern-day slavery and the U.S. Senate rose to the occasion," said Jesse Eaves, senior policy advisor for Child Protection at World Vision. "At a time when it seems impossible to move important legislation, the Senate vote not only gives hope to millions of exploited men, women, and children around the world, but also to the thousands of advocates around the country who have worked tirelessly to push this legislation through. We now implore the House to take notice and follow suit so this life-saving bill can renewed."
Officials at World Vision said that at a time when bi-partisanship appears non-existent, the Senate "came together" to pass the bill that helps combat human trafficking. "However, the success in the Senate is still marred by partisan gridlock in the House of Representatives, and World Vision calls on both parties to put politics aside and pass this crucial bipartisan bill before the end of this Congress."
Originally passed in 2000, this legislation and the laws and programs it created have made the U.S. a global leader in the fight against modern-day slavery, World Vision stated.
The renewed legislation makes some important gains in the fight against human trafficking around the world. Some of the new aspects of the bill include:
• Allows survivors of trafficking in the U.S. better access to services
• Strengthens law enforcement efforts to crack down on American child sex tourists living abroad
• Allows the U.S. to form strategic partnerships with countries trying to crackdown on trafficking in their own country
• Strengthens law enforcement efforts to crack down on American child sex tourists living abroad
• Allows the U.S. to form strategic partnerships with countries trying to crackdown on trafficking in their own country
"The partisan gridlock in the House only serves to take away from trafficking victims and gives solace to traffickers," said Eaves. "This is not a left or right issue. It's a right or wrong issue and it's time for the House to follow the lead of the Senate and allow the U.S. to remain a global leader combatting modern- day slavery."
The White House made last January, National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month and urged businesses leaders, religious organizations and citizens to become aware of how to get involved in preventing innocent children from becoming victims of trafficking.
"We will continue to take action by empowering investigators and law enforcement with the training they need, and by engaging businesses, advocates, and students in developing cutting-edge tools people can use to stay safe," the White House said in a statement.
"We will invest in helping trafficking victims rebuild their lives. And as one of the world's largest purchasers of goods and services, the Federal Government will keep leading by example, further strengthening protections to help ensure that American tax dollars never support forced labor," officials added.
World Vision is a Christian relief, development, and advocacy organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice.
Contact: alex.murashko@christianpost.com; @AlexMurashko (Twitter); Alex Wire (Blog)
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Health News - World Vision says fight against human trafficking will end if Congress doesn't pass Trafficking Victims Protection Act
(Washington, DC) – The House introduced its version of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) today (HR-2830), which if not renewed would effectively end the United States’ fight against human trafficking, says the Christian humanitarian organization World Vision.
"The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (PDF) is hugely influential in giving other countries the support they need to step up their fight against trafficking," said Jesse Eaves, World Vision's policy advisor for children in crisis. "It is the best diplomatic tool we have, and if it is not renewed, the United States' fight against trafficking will end on October 1."
World Vision is calling on Congress to support this bipartisan legislation immediately, ensuring that there is no gap in the fight to stop modern-day slavery.
The TVPA, first signed into law in 2000, is the cornerstone of U.S. policies against modern day slavery. It created the first comprehensive federal law to address human trafficking, with a focus on both the domestic and international dimensions of the crime.
The methods of human traffickers are constantly evolving and the law must evolve with them. In order to do this, the TVPA must be renewed every few years. Each time the bill is renewed, innovations and improvements are added. The current Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act expires on September 30, 2011. .
- END -
Call your members of Congress. Voice your support for the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. Find out how.
About World Vision
World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. We serve the world's poor— regardless of religion, race, ethnicity or gender.
Contact:
Laura Blank
708.872.5265
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Bangkok Post : A new focus on human misery
- Published: 18/06/2011 at 12:00 AM\
The fact that young men are trafficked into slavery in the fishing industry and condemned to spend months at sea in appalling conditions, is not new. This has been well documented by the International Labour Organisation, and Mahidol and Chulalongkorn universities. It is the increased scale of this exploitation that is causing alarm. And although police intensified their operations against traffickers in Suphan Buri and Ayutthaya this week and made arrests, some criminal gang members slipped through the net.
A ground-breaking report just released by the aid and development group World Vision International, attempts to counter the common perception that human trafficking is all about the sex trade, as it was in the mid-90s. It found that, in global terms, for every person coerced into the sex trade in the lower Mekong region, nine are forced into work. Youths _ primarily from Burma, Cambodia and Laos _ make up the vast majority of people trafficked into the fishing industry here and in Malaysia. Other victims are illegally sold into domestic service and the food processing industry.
All this is happening three years after our tough law to combat traffickers came into effect and extended its protection to those in danger of becoming victims of forced labour, prostitution, sexual abuse, or trade in human organs. It increased the punishment meted out to traffickers, spared victims from prosecution and concealed their identities. It also freed high-ranking police officers from having to obtain search warrants when actively in pursuit of suspected human traffickers.
So it would be encouraging to see police and public prosecutors making proper use of these powers and penalties. This country has long had to suffer the shame of being branded an international people trafficking hub because gangs illegally trading in sexual exploitation, domestic servitude and other forced labour activity are either based here or use the country as a transit route. Last year it was even upgraded on the US State Department's human trafficking watch list, along with much of the rest of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Collusion has long been suspected between the corrupt influential figures behind the trafficking and their equally corrupt law enforcement counterparts. Passage of the 2008 law was intended to dissolve such relationships, put the culprits in jail and make it clear that any tolerance that might have existed in the past was at an end. Clearly these goals have yet to be achieved, which does raise the question of why legislators bother to enact powerful laws when enforcement is so weak.
Despite the gradual change of tactics by traffickers, the sex trade still gains the most police attention. Brothels masquerading as karaoke bars have been raided this year in Prachin Buri and Suphan Buri provinces and at least 70 Lao girls freed from forced prostitution. The problem is that such cases rarely lead to a serious prosecution of those responsible, including the authorities who found it prudent to turn a blind eye.
So long as wrongdoers see themselves as immune from punishment, the evil of human trafficking, in all its forms, will remain a blight on our society.
Monday, May 2, 2011
UNIAP | no-trafficking.org | News
The United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP) is pleased to announce the release of the 2010 SIREN Human Trafficking Datasheets for the Mekong Region.
UNIAP, in collaboration with the governments of Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, and with the inputs of UN Agencies including ILO, IOM, UNESCO and UNICEF, international NGOs such as Save The Children and World Vision, and local NGOs and partners throughout the region, have prepared the 2010 SIREN Mekong Region Human Trafficking Datasheets to provide a comprehensive picture of the state of human trafficking in the region.
This regional snapshot of human trafficking presents the trafficking situation and the counter-trafficking responses in each of the countries of the region. Data has been collated on the official number of people trafficked and the number of perpetrators prosecuted; geographic patterns of domestic and cross-border trafficking; information about trafficking trends; and information on anti-trafficking laws and penalties. General demographic and migration information is also presented to provide a wider context to the situation.
The data comes from a variety of sources, including research and reports from UNIAP’s anti-trafficking partners at the country and regional level, and human trafficking statistics from relevant ministries of the governments of the six Mekong countries.
While UNIAP has attempted to collate and cross-check government and non-government data using a consistent approach, including field research, the type of data recorded varies from country to country, and thus there is some variance in the information provided in each country’s datasheet. The information primarily covers the period of January to December 2009, though some data recorded outside this period is also included for the purpose of comparison.
UNIAP sincerely hopes that the information in these datasheets will provide a clearer picture of the human trafficking situation in the Mekong region and a baseline of information to track trends and changes in human trafficking behavior over time. It is also hoped that this information will help and encourage anyone who is interested in human trafficking issues in the Mekong region, including the media, to use the available empirical data from this report in their work.
Recognizing that much more needs to be done to understand and combat human trafficking, the ultimate aim is to find and assist more victims of human trafficking, bring more of their traffickers and abusers to justice, and prevent more vulnerable people from being deceived and exploited in the future.
****
The Strategic Information Response Network (SIREN) delivers high quality, responsive, and up-to-date data and analysis on cutting edge issues within the human trafficking sector, primarily in the Greater Mekong Sub-region.
Download 2010 UNIAP Human Trafficking Datasheets [4MB PDF]
UNIAP | no-trafficking.org | NewsSource: no-trafficking.org
Saturday, April 23, 2011
The kids making our kids’ Easter Eggs — SOS Children
Image via Wikipedia Apr 21, 2011 09:29 AM
When British children tuck into their Easter eggs on Sunday, few will know their chocolate treats have been made by African children working as modern day slaves.
Sixty per cent of the chocolate in UK shops is produced using cocoa beans from Ghana and the Ivory Coast.
Last year, posing as cocoa dealers, a BBC team found a significant chunk of the chocolate sold in the UK is produced by children as young as eight forced to work seven hours a day.
A new report released by World Vision is asking people to slow down on their chocolate eggs and think of exploited children this Easter.
“We’re eating cheap chocolate because of trafficked children, child slavery and hazardous labour,” said the charity’s Tim Costello.
About 97 per cent of the world’s supply of chocolate does not have the ethics certificate showing that they were made without using forced and child labour, the report said.
It also revealed that as well as child labour, human trafficking is playing a huge part in making chocolates.
World Vision is suggesting a few simple strategies to wipe out child labour in chocolate production. It is calling for a certificate scheme to prove no child labour was used in making each product. Child labour is often used to make up for the lower prices, it says.
The BBC’s Panorama: Chocolate, the Bitter Truth a made a big impact raising awareness and promoting the fact that people need to take more responsibility for the food they eat and where it comes from.
Reporter Paul Kenyon investigated the supply chain that delivers most of the chocolate sold in the UK, more than half a million tonnes a year. He found evidence of human trafficking and child slave labour. The programme also found that there is no guarantee, despite safeguards, even with chocolate marketed as FairTrade, that child labour has not been used at least somewhere along the supply chain. By the time it hits the High Street, cocoa is very hard to trace.
In a village in Ghana, Kenyon met 12-year-old Ouare Fatao Kwakou, who was sold to traffickers by his uncle and taken from neighbouring Burkina Faso to work as a cocoa picker. More than a year later, he had not been paid a penny for his work - the profits of his labour went instead to his new cocoa masters and to the uncle who sold him.
Source: soschildrensvillages.org.uk
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
30 Mekong youth leaders discuss human trafficking, migration - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos
Image via Wikipedia BANGKOK, Thailand – Thirty youth leaders from Mekong have gathered here to discuss the problem of child trafficking and migration in the Asian sub-region and tell their governments what needs to be done, organizers said.
The youth delegates from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and Yunnan province of China tackle the vulnerabilities faced by children and youth in the Greater Mekong Sub-region.
“As we are all aware, human trafficking is a modern form of slavery and a severe problem worldwide. It is one of the worst violations of human rights,” according to the Ministry of Social, Development and Human Security in Thailand.
With a robust economy, Thailand is a favorite destination country for trafficked persons in Mekong, said Brian Jungwiwattanaporn, Regional Cross-border Program information coordinator of Save the Children-UK. Thailand hosts about two million documented and undocumented migrants, he added.
“Trafficked persons are deceived, sold or subjected to slavery-like conditions, under different forms and various sectors such as construction, agriculture, domestic service, prostitution, pornography, sexual tourism, and organ removal, among others,” the Thai ministry said.
The 2010 Mekong Youth Forum is the third such forum in the region. The Philippine Educational Theater Association helps facilitate the workshops.
On the last day of the forum Friday, senior government officials from the six Mekong countries will listen to the issues the youth delegates will raise in a bid to influence state policies to better protect children in the region, said Jungwiwattanaporn.
“The Mekong Youth Forum 3 is a time for them to speak and be listened to. It is also a time for them to listen more closely to each of us adults, especially those in government,” said Edelweiss F. Silan of Save the Children Regional Cross-Border Programme.
“There are expectations that after this forum, there will be joint actions between children and adults to bring about true changes that will curb the human trafficking and risky migration situations in our region,” Silan said.
The 2010 forum, which began on October 24 and will run until October 29, is also meant to institutionalize child and youth participation in local, national and regional anti-trafficking processes.
Hosted by the government of Thailand, this year’s forum is jointly organized by the International Labour Organization (ILO), Save the Children UK, World Vision, and the UN Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP). Dennis Maliwanag
Source: Inquirer.Net
Monday, August 16, 2010
Pakistani Flood Unleashes Wave of Human Trafficking | Epoch Times
Last Updated: Aug 14, 2010
A Pakistani flood-affected girl walks outside her tent in the compound of a college converted to a camp by the Pakistani Army on the outskirts of Nowshera on August 14, 2010. (BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images)
As the scale of the crisis worsens with an estimated 15 million people already affected and two million homes destroyed, the threat of trafficking is growing.
According to human rights expert, Dr Tahmina Rashid, human trafficking was already a very real threat before the flooding and now, as the monsoonal rains threaten further south, more people stand to be affected by trafficking. She noted Pakistan’s southern province of Sindh, saying it was particularly bad.
“Sindh is a hub for human trafficking at the best of times,” Dr Rashid told The Epoch Times, adding, “Anytime there is a natural disaster and human mobility, it will happen,”There are predators in this world who can take advantage of these terrible disasters and the chaos that ensues.
The lack of government infrastructure and resources in Pakistan will only make it harder for the appropriate government departments to assure the welfare of the affected population, warns Dr Rashid.
The people at most risk are the women and children of Pakistan who lack empowerment to make their own decisions, and who are most susceptible to kidnapping and exploitation, she said.
According to a report by the human rights group End Child Prostitution Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes, around 1.2 million children are trafficked worldwide for sexual exploitation as well as to be used as cheap labour.
“Natural disasters such as earthquakes, flood or famine crises may disrupt entire families and communities, leaving children without necessary protection,” says the report.
Isolation plus the slow response from aid agencies and the government’s admission that it lacks the resources to deal with the crisis, do not bode well for the immediate future of the displaced people.
To halt the threat of human trafficking aid agencies such as World Vision are trying to establish infrastructure, such as “child and women friendly centres” to allow families to re-establish, and get over the shock of the disaster.
“There are predators in this world who can take advantage of these terrible disasters and the chaos that ensues,” said World Vision’s Connie Lenneberg on ABC Radio. “All agencies will work together to identify what children are unaccompanied and assure they are looked after while they are without supervision from their direct family members.”
In the aftermath of past natural disasters, such as the Haitian earthquake, human trafficking has flourished, despite the best efforts from aid agencies and governments. According to trafficking experts such as Dr Rashid, the situation in Pakistan will mirror these past calamities.
Abolitionist and human rights expert, Amanda Kloer, believes human trafficking usually takes place in the months after a natural disaster has occurred. If this pattern continues the next period of the relief effort is crucial to stop one disaster producing another.
Pakistani Flood Unleashes Wave of Human Trafficking | Epoch Times
Thursday, January 14, 2010
World Vision Launches Public Appeal Amid Fears For The Children Of Haiti | Voxy.co.nz
Image by Getty Images via Daylife
World Vision is increasingly concerned about vulnerable children as it begins it relief efforts in the devastated Haitian capital Port-au-Prince.
The aid agency believes the loss of life is likely to be significant following the 7.0 magnitude earthquake which struck at 5pm on Tuesday (Jan 12 - local time). Thousands of people have also been made homeless and are in urgent need of medical care, clean water, shelter and food.
With 30 years experience of working in Haiti and emergency supplies and equipment prepositioned in country, World Vision has already mobilised its relief response despite challenging conditions. "World Vision Haiti will distribute first aid kits to survivors, along with basic materials such as soap, blankets, clothes and bottles of water as an initial response," said Maggie Boyer, a World Vision staffer in Haiti. In addition World Vision's 370 staff in Haiti, who mostly work in rural development programmes around the country, have been redeployed and are now making their to Port-au-Prince to assist.
But it is the children, World Vision says who will be the most vulnerable as a result of this tragedy. The child-focused aid agency is warning that thousands of children in Haiti are already forced into modern day slavery, and hundreds of thousands more lack parental care.
In addition Haiti has the worst indicators on child health and education in the Western hemisphere, and levels of child rights violations are alarming.
Amanda Rives, who works for World Vision's Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Office said: "We are very concerned about the protection and well-being of the children. An earthquake of this magnitude is an extremely traumatic experience for children.
Many children may be injured or separated from their families. Our priority is ensuring that children's physical and emotional needs are met, both now and in the coming weeks."
World Vision New Zealand has launched an official public appeal to support the relief work and long-term rehabilitation programmes which will be required.
New Zealanders are asked to urgently lend a hand and make a donation by calling 0800 80 2000 or pledging $30 through their Telecom account by phoning 0900 4 HOPE. Alternatively donations can be made via the website: www.worldvision.org.nz.
World Vision Launches Public Appeal Amid Fears For The Children Of Haiti | Voxy.co.nz
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Thursday, October 15, 2009
World Vision MEER » Trafficking of women and children
ALBANIA - Trafficking of human beings through Albania into the European Union ranks as a major problem for both this extremely poor nation and the continent.
Albania enters the 21st century after half century of economically devastating communist rule and a dozen years of painful transitioning into an emerging democratic and free market state.
Albania is both a transit and source country for the movement of women and children into EU countries. Increasingly well organised criminal organizations threaten to undermine strides being made in transformational development programs.
Young women in Albania are particularly vulnerable. With few economic opportunities in what remains the poorest country in Europe, they are ripe for ruses and false promises of economic opportunity abroad or outright marriage proposals.
Families of these women are usually economically distressed and give their blessing to what appears to be a better future for their daughters.
The central government in Tirana is losing the battle against the traffickers. Criminal elements centred in Vlore smuggle women into Italy across the Adriatic Sea. Illegal profits move back into the Albanian grey economy, further distressing the national infrastructure.
World Vision Albania believes income generation projects and community education provide critical on-the-ground support to more aggressive counter-trafficking programs currently under discussion and review.
World Vision feels rural communities that realise increased economic opportunities for women and higher levels of awareness about the dangers of trafficking will be less vulnerable to this national tragedy.
An excellent reference work on this crisis is "The Girls and Trafficking" published by 'The Hearth' Psycho-Social Centre of Vlora. It is a detailed study of trafficking during 2002 and is breaking new ground
ground in understanding this issue.
http://meero.worldvision.org/issue_details.php?issueID=58
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Albania enters the 21st century after half century of economically devastating communist rule and a dozen years of painful transitioning into an emerging democratic and free market state.
Albania is both a transit and source country for the movement of women and children into EU countries. Increasingly well organised criminal organizations threaten to undermine strides being made in transformational development programs.
Young women in Albania are particularly vulnerable. With few economic opportunities in what remains the poorest country in Europe, they are ripe for ruses and false promises of economic opportunity abroad or outright marriage proposals.
Families of these women are usually economically distressed and give their blessing to what appears to be a better future for their daughters.
The central government in Tirana is losing the battle against the traffickers. Criminal elements centred in Vlore smuggle women into Italy across the Adriatic Sea. Illegal profits move back into the Albanian grey economy, further distressing the national infrastructure.
World Vision Albania believes income generation projects and community education provide critical on-the-ground support to more aggressive counter-trafficking programs currently under discussion and review.
World Vision feels rural communities that realise increased economic opportunities for women and higher levels of awareness about the dangers of trafficking will be less vulnerable to this national tragedy.
An excellent reference work on this crisis is "The Girls and Trafficking" published by 'The Hearth' Psycho-Social Centre of Vlora. It is a detailed study of trafficking during 2002 and is breaking new ground
ground in understanding this issue.
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