Center for Girls is fortunate enough to work with German organization Kindernothilfe since 2012 on our Program for the Prevention of Child Trafficking and Child Abuse. In the past, we have partnered with End Child Prostitution and Trafficking (ECPAT), while this year we are applying to embark on a solo project for this Program. Last week, Center for Girls Director Nunnaree and international volunteer Emily met with our Kindernothilfe Thailand contact and discussed our goals for 2017. We have rewritten and revamped our Concept Note to focus exclusively on working with local Chiang Khong businesses against child trafficking. Previously, our aim was to include working in the villages of Chiang Khong, but as there are already many organizations doing this, we felt Center for Girls was needed elsewhere.
In 2017, we hope to engage 50 local businesses in training, workshops, and meetings to educate owners and staff about preventative measures and best practice methods to fight against child trafficking and abuse. Education is an incredibly important part of all of Center for Girls’ programs, and our work with Kindernothilfe is no exception. We intend to work with both employers and employees to create workplaces that are safely aware of the issue of child exploitation. Center for Girls consistently utilizes participatory approaches and we will implement this technique in our collaborations with local enterprises. Center for Girls will support the employers of 50 businesses to institute secure and knowledgeable workplaces and will encourage their employees to create a Network and Club to keep in touch, share ideas, and spread their learning to others.
We also plan to design a campaign to raise awareness of child trafficking at key border crossings (of Thailand and Laos) and on boats that cross the Mekong every day. A conservative assessment estimates that 680 people use the boats and border crossings every week to travel into Thailand from Laos, and vice versa, which means that thousands could potentially be reached along the Mekong River through fliers, posters, and billboards containing crucial information about trafficking.
We are waiting to hear if our new Concept Note will be accepted and if we can begin writing our project proposal for 2017, but as we wait we are thankful for the support of Kindernothilfe in our endeavor to end child trafficking and child abuse in Chiang Khong District.
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