Advocacy

Several activities for promoting the Athens Ethical Principles have been undertaken worldwide following the Athens Roundtable on the Business Community against the Trafficking of Human Beings held on 23 January 2006 which initiated the End Human Trafficking campaign.

The End Human Trafficking Now! Campaign at the Vienna Forum
Vienna 13 – 15 February 2008

The Suzanne Mubarak Women's International Peace Movement through its campaign to End Human Trafficking Now! attended the Vienna Forum on February 13 - 15 2008.  The forum was held as part of the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT) and was aimed at mobilizing state and non-state actors in the effort to eradicate human trafficking. It also provided a unique opportunity to share knowledge, best-practices and partnerships with all stakeholders as well as with the media.

The campaign in partnership with UNODC and OSCE was instrumental in the preparation of various activities including the format of the sessions, involving the private sector, advice on speakers and co-sponsorship of the Women's Leadership Council (WLC). It secured the acceptance of both Lyse Doucet and Vivien Crieger as moderators in the opening and the plenary session of the WLC, not to mention Ms Zoreh Tabatabai, Director of Communications at ILO and active member of the campaign who moderated the closed session with excellence.

H.E. Suzanne Mubarak, Founder and President of the movement was invited as keynote speaker in the opening session. In her speech she underscored the importance of team work of all partners in fighting the scourge of human trafficking. She stressed not only the important role that women and private sector play, but the crucial need to target children and youth in putting an end to this horrendous crime. Several members on the campaign were also invited to participate on panels focused on the involvement of the private sector.

During the Forum, the Campaign was offered a stand for materials and its logo was permanently displayed at the main reception area. There was a huge interest among participants and all campaign material was distributed. The campaign's vignette was shown not only at the main conference hall but also at several other sessions and was very much appreciated by all.

The End Human Trafficking Now! Campaign has been recognized as a partner of the UN.GIFT, its logo is now on the UN.GIFT website and show-cased in the specific sub-page of the Initiative.

For the UN.GIFT website, visit www.ungift.org
Click here to read the full speech of H.E.Suzanne Mubarak
Click here for the Women's Leadership Council

Public-Private Partnerships to End Human Trafficking and Forced Labour, Hong Kong,
19 April 2007

SMWIPM participated in the organisation of this Asian summit, together with Vital Voices Global Partnership, CSR Asia, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Microsoft, Eileen Fisher and Manpower.
Thiis Summit was the launch of a two-year initiative that will focus attention on corporate social responsibility to combat human trafficking and forced labour in Asia. It showcased innovative business practices that have already helped curb human trafficking and forced labour.
Speakers and workshops addressed specific challenges faced by businesses in the region and how they can work together with government and NGOs to develop effective solutions.
The EHTN! Campaign was represented by Karen Troll, communications and project officer and Dr Hammad, who delivered a strong welcoming message from H.E. Mrs Mubarak. It was distributed to all participants and was greatly appreciated. The vignette was also shown on this occasion and spark off huge interest.
Dr Hammad also participated in the panel discussion on raising awareness, where she emphasized the need to insure that this terrible subject is continually on our radars’ screen. She also pointed out that dealing with such an issue will be difficult and will be a long process. Nevertheless, with more and more people becoming aware of this illicit trade, and with more and more people joining, especially corporations, the better the chances are to end human trafficking.

For the speech of H. E. Mrs Mubarak, click here.
For the Programme book, click here.
For some press review of the meeting, click here.
For the video clip aired during the press conference, click here.
For the full video coverage, click here.

Alexandria Conference on Women and Reform: Women and Trafficking,
11-13 December 2006

The Movement participated in the Alexandria Conference on Women: Steps Towards Achieving Reform, 11-13 December 2006. The conference brought together key specialists and recognized experts from diverse backgrounds from Egypt, the Arab countries and the world. The gathering sought to address the major institutional and policy reforms affecting women.
Speaking at the panel on Women Trafficking, Dr. Aleya El Bindari Hammad stressed the need to empower and protect the vulnerable segments of society. She spotlighted the business community’s role in fighting human trafficking both in the region and worldwide and presented the new vignette of the End Human Trafficking Now! campaign. Other speakers on the panel included Dr. Laura Lederer, Senior Advisor on Trafficking in Persons, U.S. State Department, and Dr. Mohammed Mattar, Executive Director of the Protection Project.
Dr. Lederer pointed out the need to focus on social marketing techniques to build a critical mass of people to abolish this new form of contemporary slavery.
The Movement was represented by Ramya Ramanathan, Communications Officer at the opening plenary on the subject of women, empowerment and trafficking. The Movement also submitted a paper on ‘Women and Trafficking’ at the conference. Click here to read paper.

EHTN! Campaign Participates in Special Event Organized by the OSCE on Human Trafficking, 16 November 2006

The Special Event ‘Public-Private Partnership in Combating Trafficking in Human Beings’ was organized by the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) Belgian Chairmanship within its High Level Conference on Human Trafficking. Held in Vienna on 16 November 2006, the event was aimed at exchanging views and experiences on the involvement of the private sector in the prevention and eradication of human trafficking.
The EHTN! Campaign was represented by Dr. Aleya Hammad who in her remarks, focused on the economic facets of human trafficking and shared examples of anti-trafficking actions that businesses had undertaken. Eva Biaudet, the OSCE Special Representative on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, stressed the potential of the business sector in influencing the creation of a societal environment that would not tolerate human trafficking. She noted the important role of businesses in addressing root causes of trafficking and vulnerabilities of potential victims, including discrimination in the workplace. She added that businesses could help in the economic empowerment of women, supporting development policy programmes in countries of origin and public campaigns in countries of destination.
Other speakers included Prof. Gert Vermeulen (University of Gent) who elaborated on a project on Quality Labels for Business and Agnes Jarzyna (European Migrant Workers Union) who suggested developing of a blacklist of traffickers to prevent their further involvemment in this illicit trade.

WEF Sharm El Sheik: End Human Trafficking Now!  Takes Centre Stage, 21 May 2006

The panel ‘What human trafficking?’ held at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on the Middle East at Sharm El Sheik on 21 May 2006 strongly highlighted the need for collaborative efforts and international cooperation between different constituents in order to battle the global scourge of trafficking in today’s milieu of increasingly porous borders, swift transportation, corruption and easier financial transactions. The panel included representatives from the business community, media, policy makers and NGOs and explored the real impact that collaborations could have on addressing and finding solutions.
In her opening statement H.E. Mrs Suzanne Mubarak urged participants to sign on to the End Human Trafficking Now! campaign to put an end to what she referred to as ‘one of the darkest issues of today.’
David Arkless from Manpower, a signatory to the Athens Ethical Principles and the Special Envoy of the End Human Trafficking Now! (EHTN) campaign, reiterated his commitment to signing up 1,000 businesses by January 2007 to join the campaign and adopting a zero tolerance front.Professor Donna Hughes from the University of Rhode Island focused on the environment in which sexual exploitation thrives. She advocated not only for ‘promoting the rule of law and battling corruption’ but also to bring ‘focus on the demand side.’
While International Organization for Migration (IOM)’s Director General Brunson McKinley, zeroed in on the need for victim-friendly justice and prevention measures like awareness raising and research initiatives, Hissah Saad Al Sabah, President of the Council of Arab Businesswomen and a supporter of the EHTN campaign, Kuwait, talked about another critical preventive measure – the empowerment of women to counter exploitation. Sarah Leah Witson from Human Rights Watch reminded everyone that young boys and men were also being coerced into forced labour. She sounded a clarion call to punish traffickers -- ‘Traffickers are criminals and she should be treated as such.’
In continuing to raise awareness about the issue of trafficking, the Movement invited corporations from the Middle East to join the campaign. The Arabic version of ‘Trafficking Women and Children’ book and the Athens Ethical Principles in Arabic were also distributed at the event.

To view the session, visit  www.weforum.org.

Launch of the Suzanne Mubarak Institute of Peace Studies, Alexandria, Egypt,
16 February 2006

During the launch of the Suzanne Mubarak Institute for Peace Studies in Alexandria, Egypt on 16 February 2006, reference was made to the Athens roundtable, indicating ways in which the business community can assist in the campaign against human trafficking. A representative of the business sector emphasised that ‘violence against women will only be alleviated through zero tolerance, the strict application of laws and mechanisms of accountability’. Speakers at the event identified some of the leading causes of insecurity, greed, commoditization of women, lawlessness and impunity, and discussed ways to uproot them from societies. The participation of businesses was imperative in this regard.