BANGKOK, 27 November 2013 – Twenty-four young people from Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam attended MTV EXIT’s second annual ASEAN Youth Forum in Bangkok from 14-17 November. The purpose of the Forum was to equip young people with the knowledge and tools they need to hold creative human trafficking awareness-raising events in their communities.
“The MTV EXIT ASEAN Youth Forum brings together young people from around the region with a shared interest in reducing human trafficking in their communities. The Forum empowers these young people to take actions that will bring visibility to the crime and help people make wiser migration choices,” said Matt Love, Director, MTV EXIT.
As part of the Forum, participants were trained to use MTV EXIT’s newly developed My EXIT Plan toolkit, which provides a blueprint for holding engaging human trafficking-awareness events.
“This issue is important to me because anybody can be trafficked. By using the toolkit, I can help make people in my community aware of risky situations and teach them how to stay safe,” said Rochelle Medrano, 25, from the Philippines.
Kroekkiat Kavindhra Tiamsai, 21, from Thailand, said: “This Forum gave us a deep look in to human Trafficking, and a better understanding of this unacceptable human rights violation. By empowering people like me to spread awareness of this issue loudly and effectively in my communities, we will reduce the number of people who fall into the trafficking trap.”
The participants, aged 18-25 years old, were selected following a call for applications on MTV EXIT’s social media platforms and website. The group included the MTV EXIT Youth Leader from each of the six countries as well as MTV EXIT Youth Ambassadors who have previously participated in MTV EXIT activities in their home communities.
MTV EXIT is providing US$200 to fund each Forum participant’s human trafficking awareness-raising event to mark International Day for the Abolition of Slavery on (or around) 2 December.
The ASEAN Youth Forum provided a platform for participants to work with MTV EXIT staff and partner to fine-tune their event plans for this day.
“The Forum was a great opportunity to get different perspectives on the same issue. Having an opportunity to present my human trafficking awareness-raising event plans to such a diverse group was really helpful,” said Nadia Arviani, 20, from Indonesia.
This is MTV EXIT’s second annual ASEAN Youth Forum. The first forum (called the MTV EXIT ASEAN Youth Sessions) was held in Jakarta in December 2012.
The MTV EXIT campaign is produced in partnership with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade – Australian Aid Program and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and supported by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The MTV EXIT ASEAN Youth Forum was supported by Air Asia.
