DAWN's 10 th Anniversary

“Recognizing the Dignity and Rights of Women”

A Conference on Migration and Trafficking in Persons

Bayview park Hotel Manila
February 10, 2006

WELCOME REMARKS

Carmelita G. Nuqui
Executive Director, Development Action for Women Network (DAWN)
President, Philippine Migrants Rights Watch (PMRW)

Friends, ladies and gentlemen, good morning!

The Development Action for Women Network (DAWN) is proud to present this conference on Migration and Trafficking in Persons, in celebration of its 10 th year anniversary. This is being co-organized with Vital Voices Global Partnership, a non-government organization (NGO) based in the United States . The theme of the conference is “Recognizing the Dignity and Rights of Women.”

Globalization and the continuous movement of people from country to country in search of better life have exposed people to various forms of exploitation. The most conspicuous form of this kind of exploitative migration is human trafficking.

Trafficking in persons has been a major international issue this past decade. It is estimated that 600,000 to 800,000 people are being trafficked across international borders every year. This does not yet take into account those trafficked within the borders of countries. This modern-day form of slavery is accompanied by serious human rights violations. The most common form of trafficking involves women and children who are trafficked to work in the sex industry or those engaged in forced labor. These victims are often scarred, physically and psychologically, from their experiences.

The exploitation of people and trafficking's link to crime organizations have prompted governments to take measures to counter it. Some countries like the Philippines have adopted anti-trafficking legislation. The US State Department comes up every year with a trafficking in persons report that classifies countries into tiers, depending on their compliance with standards. Japan has adopted policies to curb trafficking in their country.

Other sectors, including non-government organizations (NGOs) have taken action to inform people about this issue, and to take care of and help victims. Several conferences and discussions have been organized internationally and locally in some countries to raise people's awareness and come up with possible solutions to curb trafficking. DAWN has been helping women victims recover from their trauma and become survivors and advocates.

A lot has been accomplished. And yet, a lot still remains to be done in terms of prevention, protection and prosecution. The issue of human trafficking is common to all nations. Since it is transnational in nature, no one country alone can solve it. It requires the collective efforts of all nations and all sectors.

This conference will also look into the efforts of various sectors in the Philippines and in Japan to combat trafficking in persons. It will look into what has been done and achieved by the governments, NGOs, the church, and media to curb this transnational crime. There will also be a presentation on global efforts to combat human trafficking.

We hope that through this conference, there will be awareness raising and a deeper understanding of the issue that has plagued many of our women and children. We hope that the sharing of ideas in this conference will be helpful and useful to all sectors, including government, in the creation of policies and the crafting of laws and properly implementing them and other measures to combat trafficking in persons.

We welcome you all to this very important event. Let us continue working together in our common fight against trafficking in persons.

hank you very much and have a good day!