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ILO, Yunnan Province, China, Launched New Project Phase

The Chinese province of Yunnan, in co-operation with the International Labor Organization (ILO), has launched a new phase of a five-year project to combat trafficking of children and women in the Mekong Sub-Region of Asia in July 2003.

The trafficking of children and women has been a growing cross-border issue in the Mekong region, which consists of Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and the Yunnan Province of China. According to a Chinese official of the All-China Women's Federation, trafficking is closely tied to abduction under the guise of employment, and this is the reason the ILO is involved in addressing the problem. Because many people cross the borders in the Mekong region to look for better jobs, women and children often are trafficked or are recruited and most often are forced to become sex workers.

The first stage of the project started in June 2000 and covered only the two counties of Yunnan. The new projects comprising the second stage now cover eight counties of Yunnan. In the second stage are measures to ensure that migrant workers are not cheated and exploited, which will tap the joint efforts of migrant workers and their employers. The ILO has raised some US$10 million to finance the projects. Governments of various levels in Yunnan Province likewise provide financial as well as technical support to the project.

Xinhua News Agency. "ILO, China Join to Combat Trafficking in Children and Women." July 12, 2003.