IOM, the Bangladeshi government and the Dhaka-based Centre for
Corporate Responsibility will today host a seminar to promote
public private partnerships and corporate social responsibility
programmes to provide economic empowerment to victims of human
trafficking.

The one-day event will bring together state and non-state
actors, academics, counter-trafficking practitioners and key
business leaders to identify areas and strategies for
collaboration.

"IOM recently has piloted partnerships with the private sector
to empower victims of trafficking, employing them in knitware
factories and helping them to set up coffee shops. We want to
expand such collaborations to encourage the corporate sector to
support this kind of government-backed social development
initiative," says IOM South Asia Regional Representative Ms. Rabab
Fatima.

IOM Bangladesh collaborated with Nestlé and the
multinational company Transcom to set up five coffee kiosks with
the brand "Kafé Mukti" (Freedom Café) in locations
including government offices and university campuses. It also
facilitated job placements under an agreement with the Bangladesh
Knitware Manufacturers and Exporters' Association (BKMEA).

Speakers at the seminar will include the Minister for Women and
Children Affairs Ms. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury and Mr. Anir
Chowdhury, Policy Advisor of the Prime Minister's Office.

The Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Governor of
Bangladesh Bank, the President of the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and
Industries, the President of the Bangladesh Federation of Women
Entrepreneurs, the Chairman of the CSR Centre and the President of
the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute are also scheduled to
speak.

For more information please contact:

Asif Munier

IOM Dhaka

Tel: +880.1714114659

E-mail: "mailto:amunier@iom.int">amunier@iom.int

or

Farhana Chowdhury

Tel: +880.2.988.9765

E-mail: "mailto:fchowdhury@iom.int">fchowdhury@iom.int