Channel News Asia03 November 2008
BANGKOK: A host of international acts including the Click 5, are headed for the Asian region later this November to campaign against human trafficking.
Cambodia is the first stop of the campaign against human trafficking which will see a series of events and concerts across Asia organised by MTV Networks(Asia),MTV Europe Foundation and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
There will be four concerts in Cambodia with the highlight being a concert held at the famed Angkor Wat temple complex.
The concert at the UNESCO World Heritage Site on 7 December will feature US-band The Click Five, winner of the Knockout Award at the recent MTV Asia Awards, as well as other artists to be announced shortly.
Two other concerts will be held before that in November at Ochheuteal Beach in Sihanoukville and a Football Stadium in Kampong Cham, while the final concert will be held at Phnom Penh's Olympic Stadium on 12 December in recognition of Cambodia’s National Day to Combat Human Trafficking.
The Cambodian tour is the first of seven national campaigns in Asia that will continue into 2009 and draw support from well-known local and international artists who will make appearances alongside anti-trafficking organizations and government agencies to distribute information about exploitation and human trafficking.
The concerts tie in with the MTV EXIT (End Exploitation and Trafficking)campaign, a youth-oriented initiative to stop human trafficking – defined by the United Nations as "the recruitment, transportation, and receipt of a person for sexual or economical exploitation by force, fraud, coercion, or deception" in order to make a profit.
The anti-trafficking and labor exploitation campaign will be part of a series of television programs produced by MTV EXIT to be broadcast in Cambodia and on MTV Channels internationally.
These specials will combine concert footage, interviews with the bands, NGOs and other activists about the dangers of trafficking, as well as clips from MTV EXIT’s other anti-trafficking programming, including documentaries, animated works and short films.
"Human trafficking is a critical human rights issue facing young people across Asia" said Simon Goff, Campaign Director of MTV EXIT.
"With these upcoming on-the-ground events, MTV EXIT is using the power of live music to educate youth across the region about human trafficking. The Cambodia live concert tour is a vital focal point in the wider education of those people most at risk."
The UN estimates that at any one time, there are 2.5 million people being trafficked in the world, mostly in Asia and the Pacific.
It is the second-largest illegal trade after drugs, with traffickers earning over US$10 billion every year through the buying and selling of human beings, mainly young men and women.
The MTV EXIT initiative is an expansion of the MTV EXIT European campaign, which has been helping to prevent trafficking and exploitation in Europe since 2004. The campaign expanded to Asia and the Pacific in 2007 in partnership with USAID.
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