An international campaign aimed at preventing trafficking in
persons during next month's football World Cup in South Africa was
launched last week in Italy, Brazil, Botswana and South Africa.

The campaign, which is initiated by Talitha Kum, an
international network of religious sisters from 19 different
congregations, is backed by IOM and the International Union of
Superiors General (UISG by its Italian acronym).

As part of the campaign, Public Service Announcements will be
broadcast on radio and TV channels and flyers featuring IOM's
Helpline number 0800555999, will be distributed in high visibility
areas and transport hubs such as bus stations and at the
Johannesburg international airport.

Participants will also seek to address community leaders to
enlist their support in raising awareness among football supporters
in partnership with the Southern African Catholic Bishop's
Conference (SACBC).

"While there is no empirical evidence linking an increase of
trafficking in persons to such events, the Talitha Kum campaign
aims to take advantage of the momentum built around the World Cup
to increase awareness of trafficking and the need for adequate
protection mechanisms," says IOM's Stefano Volpicelli.

IOM's work in South Africa aims to address such gaps,
particularly as they relate to the most vulnerable, specifically
women between the ages of 16-30 who come from broken homes, single
parents, the unemployed and destitute, including men who are
trafficked for forced labour.

"Talitha Kum will allow for coordinated prevention activities
and the creation of necessary linkages between religious personnel,
community leaders and the public at large," says Stefano
Volpicelli.

Since 2004, IOM and UISG, with funding from the US Department of
State – Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM),
have provided training on prevention and assistance to victims of
human trafficking to more than 500 religious personnel in 48
countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America.

An IOM study on human trafficking and the 2006 World Cup in
Germany found inconclusive evidence of an increase in trafficking
for sexual exploitation.

It recommended that future event organizers and host cities
widen the scope of counter-trafficking activities to include forced
labour, particularly within the construction industry, criminal
activities and begging, and advocate more strongly for adequate
reporting by the media on the true nature and scope of human
trafficking.

For further information, please contact:

Flavio Di Giacomo

IOM Rome

Tel: + 39 06 44 186 207

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

or

Stefano Volpicelli

Tel: + 39 06 44 186234

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