Register for USAID Asia CTIP’s Evidence2Action Summit
The USAID Asia CTIP virtual summit invites participants, the U.S. government releases a counter-trafficking National Action plan, and Amnesty International exposes the ongoing abuse of domestic workers in Qatar.
The USAID Asia Counter Trafficking in Persons (CTIP) program is hosting the 2020 Counter Trafficking in Persons Evidence Summit virtually on November 10-12, 2020.
The objective of the summit is to distill the latest and best research in the CTIP sector into actionable information for civil society, the private sector, national and local governments, with a focus on:
(1) the application of research findings in day-to-day response by civil society to improve the lives of survivors of trafficking in persons
(2) identification of barriers to ‘research uptake’ faced by civil society, private sector, and government agencies and means to overcome them
The conversations will focus on creating networks and linkages between research organizations and implementation with on the ground activity-based organizations; and sharing research findings and methods to contribute to the ever-growing evidence base.
Speakers and panelists will include...
University of Sussex | Mekong Club | Liberty Shared |
University of Nottingham | BBC Media Action | The Coca Cola Company
Monash University | Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking | Peace Work
Love Frankie | London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Sessions will include deep-dives into...
- Behavior Change Communication in the TiP sector
- Big data and its uses for trafficking in persons research and programming
- Cultural and logistical barriers to research and dissemination
- Barriers to evidence uptake – a civil society perspective
While most slots have been filled, there is still time to propose a session. Do you have something you would like to present or a session you think needs to be on the agenda? USAID Asia CTIP wants to be as inclusive as possible and would love to try and fit you in. Please reach out to let them know.
In addition, Evidence2Action is looking for innovative solutions to countering trafficking in persons broadly defined across the thematic areas of the Evidence2Action Summit. The team are encouraging courageous actors – who are willing to integrate diverse knowledge, lessons learned, and impact-oriented actions into solutions to support CTIP - to apply for a research grant.
Here’s a round-up of other noteworthy news and initiatives:
Last week, the White House released the first-ever comprehensive National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking. The National Action Plan (NAP) represents the United States’ broad-based, multi-disciplinary, whole-of-government strategy to eradicate human trafficking. In addition, The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) last week launched the Center for Countering Human Trafficking (CCHT), a centralized location where subject matter experts will coordinate and expand the department’s efforts in the fight against human trafficking and forced labour.
A new report by Amnesty International reveals how migrant domestic workers employed in Qatar have been pushed to breaking point by extreme overwork, lack of rest, and abusive and degrading treatment. The organization spoke to 105 women who had been employed as live-in domestic workers in Qatar, and found that their rights were still being abused and violated despite government reforms aimed at improving their working conditions. Some women said they had been victims of serious crimes such as sexual assault.
The world’s chocolate companies depend on cocoa produced with the aid of more than one million West African child labourers, according to a new report sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor. The findings represent a remarkable failure by leading chocolate companies to fulfill a long-standing promise to eradicate the practice from their supply chains.
The Global Fund to End Modern Slavery (GFEMS) is pleased to share new research on Understanding the Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Migrant Construction Workers in India. Conducted using a framework developed with IST Research and the fund’s NEEV consortium of non-profits, the survey measures the impact of the pandemic on the lives, jobs, and wellbeing of migrant construction workers.
A new blog post on the Council on Foreign Relations website discusses U.S. policy on trafficking in persons and the need for a unified strategy, for the role of survivors and civil society to be prioritized, and for the renewal of U.S. global leadership to take the worldwide battle against modern day slavery to a new level.
An opinion piece on the South China Morning Post website calls for better support systems for the millions of vulnerable foreign domestic workers – who contribute millions to the cities they work in – and their families in Hong Kong. IOM Hong Kong SAR, China, has recently released a report sharing the results of a survey conducted last year with local employers of migrant domestic workers; the survey was carried out in order to assess current levels of understanding and the attitudes of employers towards ethical recruitment and decent work principles.
Justice Centre Hong Kong is looking for experts/NGO frontline workers who are able and willing to comment authoritatively on trafficking in Ghana, for ongoing litigation in the provision of assistance to a child trafficked for the purposes of domestic labour/servitude.
On 10 November 2020, Delta 8.7 will convene a virtual panel to continue and deepen the conversation from a recent written symposium that focused on lessons from efforts to combat child labour. All written contributions can be found here, and you can register here.
Rights Lab, University of Nottingham, is hosting the online launch of its report Partnerships for Freedom: improving multi-agency collaboration on modern slavery, on 3 November.
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