Luxor forum against human trafficking held in Egypt

A global forum against human trafficking was held in Luxor, Egypt, on December 10-12, 2010, organized by End Human Trafficking Now!, an initiative of the Suzanne Mubarak Women’s International Peace Mo

A global forum against human trafficking was held in Luxor, Egypt, on December 10-12, 2010, organized by End Human Trafficking Now!, an initiative of the Suzanne Mubarak Women’s International Peace Movement (SMWIPM) and the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT), to promote the participation of the business community in building awareness and implementing zero-tolerance policies against trafficking.

The forum agenda featured a panel on “Ending exploitative tourism!,” moderated by CNN anchor Jim Clancy, with participation of several Code member companies including Accor Executive Vice President Sophie Flak, Carlson companies Chair of the Board Marilyn Carlson Nelson, UNWTO Deputy Secretary General Dr. Taleb Rifai, CNBC travel editor Peter Greenberg, and the Code Secretariat Dr. Camelia Tepelus.

An important event on the Luxor forum agenda was the presentation of the Business Leaderโ€™s Award to Fight Human Trafficking, a joint initiative of the End Human Trafficking Now! Campaign (EHTN) of the Suzanne Mubarak Women’s International Peace Movement (SMWIPM), the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT), and the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). This first-ever award aims to honor a business executive for his/her innovation, energy, and commitment in tackling human trafficking.

An international jury chaired by the First Lady of Egypt Suzanne Mubarak and comprised of HH the Aga Khan; HRH Princess Mathilde of Belgium; Antonio Maria Costa, former Executive Director of the UNODC; Georg Kell, Executive Director of the UN Global Compact Office; and Bjorn Haugland, Chief Operating Officer, Det Norske Veritas, unanimously assigned 3 award co-winners:

– Christopher Davis, International Campaigns Director, Body Shop International
– Marylin Carlson Nelson, Chairman, Carlson Companies
– Robert Rigby-Hall, Senior Vice President, LexisNexis, Inc.

Notably, two of the winners of the award distinguished themselves for their work on the protection of childrenโ€˜s rights โ€“ Carlson Companies, as the leading North American member of the Code, and the Body Shop โ€“ through the campaign against child trafficking in collaboration with ECPAT International. The Code was represented among the 20 nominees through its members Kuoni Holding, Accor, Sunโ€˜nโ€˜Sand Kenya, and Carlson Companies.

Furthermore, the outcome document of the Luxor Forum makes specific reference to the Code as a recommeded tool for child protection in the tourism industry.

Another important initiative presented in Luxor was a new eLearning course on
fighting trafficking for business leaders, managers, and employees of business
companies, developed by the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human
Trafficking (UN.GIFT) and the End Human Trafficking Now! Campaign (EHTN!). The
course is available for free and additional information can be found here
http://www.microsoft.com/middleeast/humantrafficking/default.aspx .

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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