The Ministry of Women and Children Affairs and the IOM regional
office in Dhaka are today launching a three-year programme to
prevent human trafficking and protect and assist victims of the
crime with livelihood assistance and better prosecute those who
organize and benefit from it.

The programme, which is funded by the Royal Danish and Norwegian
Embassies and which aims to develop the capacity of the government
and civil society, will be carried out by 11 NGOs in 22 source
districts in partnership with ten ministries and various government
agencies, with the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs acting as
focal point.

Special attention will be paid to particularly vulnerable groups
such as single women, adolescent girls and children. Awareness
raising activities will also target schoolchildren, parents and
teachers as well as local government officials, law enforcement
agencies and members of the judiciary. 

Human trafficking is an issue of concern for the government of
Bangladesh. Although there are no reliable estimates as to the
number of victims of trafficking in Bangladesh, experts agree that
human trafficking is a serious issue that needs to be tackled in a
comprehensive way.

Women and girls are mostly trafficked for the hard labour,
sexual exploitation and domestic work, while boys are exploited as
beggars in India, Pakistan and the Middle East in particular.

For further information, please contact:

Zakia Hassan

IOM Dhaka

Tel: +880 2 881 4604

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