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The Asia Foundation Launches Anti-Trafficking Prevention Program in Vietnam

The Asia Foundation is launching a US$300,000 project to combat human trafficking over the next two years in five Vietnamese provinces most affected by the crime.  To support the project activities, the foundation will open an office in Vietnam's southern An Giang province along Cambodia's border.

Funded by the US Department of State’s Office to Combat and Monitor Trafficking in Persons, the project will pilot new methods for preventing the serious and growing problem of trafficking in Vietnam. Many women and young girls are trafficked as they migrate from Vietnam to Cambodia or from rural to urban areas within Vietnam, seeking better economic opportunities.

The program will support public education on safe migration and peer counseling to prevent trafficking. Dramatic theatre performances, often staged by the communities themselves, will inform young girls about the risk of trafficking and how to avoid falling prey to traffickers' false promises of jobs or marriage.

The Asia Foundation will also work closely with local officials to increase women's participation in the budget process so that they have greater say over how local public resources are used and to ensure that there are resources allocated for safe migration. "By our work, The Asia Foundation reaffirms its strong commitment to combating the terrible global problem of trafficking in persons across the Asia-Pacific region," said Douglas Bereuter, president of The Asia Foundation.

The Asia Foundation is a non-profit, non-governmental organization committed to the development of a peaceful, prosperous, just, and open Asia- Pacific region.

Adapted from: "NGO launches anti-trafficking program in Vietnam."  www.thanhniennews.com. 31 May 2007.