"Buy Responsibly" Campaign Re-launched in Vienna on Occasion of EU Anti-Trafficking Day
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) will present the
"Buy Responsibly" Campaign in Vienna on Friday to coincide with EU
Anti-Trafficking Day proceedings.
By urging consumers to change their behaviour and find out
"What's behind the things we buy", the "Buy Responsibly" Campaign,
unveiled in Brussels and Geneva last year, draws public attention
to the vital role consumers can play in combating human
trafficking.
"The greatest step consumers can take against labour
exploitation is to buy responsibly and think about the products
that they buy every day," notes Ambassador Laura Thompson, Deputy
Director General of IOM. "This campaign addresses a gap in global
counter-trafficking efforts which have until now, mainly focused on
prevention and post-rescue assistance in source countries with
little work being done to tackle the equally critical demand side,
fuelled by consumer purchases," she adds.
Links
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Responsibly" Website
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"_blank" title="">Buy Responsibly" Facebook Group
According to recent studies, an estimated 7.4 million persons
worldwide are employed in situations of forced and exploited
labour, while approximately 1.1 million of these persons have been
trafficked. Eliminating the demand for trafficked and exploited
labour to provide the cheap goods and huge profits desired by
consumers and businesses the world over is critical if global
efforts to end human trafficking are to be successful, says
IOM.
The "Buy Responsibly" Campaign, which consists of a dedicated
website, a short video, profiles of individuals trafficked for
labour exploitation, basic facts regarding the global phenomenon of
human trafficking, and tools to involve the interested consumer in
the fight against human trafficking for forced labour, was created
in collaboration with the advertising firm Saatchi & Saatchi
Switzerland and the Brussels based photographer Jean-Pierre Van der
Elst. Connected to an interactive network on Facebook, "Buy
Responsibly" also works with non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
such as the Clean Clothes Campaign and the Austrian NGO
"Südwind" to collaborate for fair working conditions and
combat modern slavery.
"Buy Responsibly" is represented visually by a gigantic upside
down shopping cart with "exploited workers" trapped inside, which
will be exhibited in front of the Museumsquartier in Vienna from 14
until 19 October 2010. Following the Vienna event, the exhibition
will be on display in a number of other European cities including:
The Hague, 8-16 December 2010; Warsaw, 18-22 December 2010; and
London in Spring 2011.
The Vienna launch event will be opened with Ambassador Laura
Thompson, Deputy Director General of IOM, together with Ambassador
Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger, National Coordinator on "Trafficking
in Human Beings" and Chairperson of the "Task Force against Human
Trafficking" of the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and
International Affairs, as well as Colonel Gerald Tatzgern, Head of
the "Centre on Smuggling and Human Trafficking", of the Austrian
Criminal Intelligence Service, presenting at the "Buy Responsibly"
Campaign at a press conference on 15 October 2010 at the
Museumsquartier, Baroque Suite C, Museumsplatz 1, in 1070
Vienna.
For more information see the "Buy Responsibly" website at:
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"http://www.buyresponsibly.org/" target="_blank" title=
"">http://www.buyresponsibly.org/.
And the Campaign Facebook Group at:
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"http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=156682083684" target=
"_blank" title=
"">http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=156682083684.
For more information, contact:
Susanne Schultz
Tel: +41 22 717 9860
E-mail:
"mailto:sschultz@iom.int">sschultz@iom.int