Seminars & Events

Each day, countless men, women and children around the world suffer in horrific slave-like conditions. Whether it be a teenage boy forced to work 19 hour shifts on a fishing boat in foreign seas, a woman forced to have sex with up to ten strangers every night, or a child sold into a sweat shop to make electronic components for an unscrupulous sub-contractor, each day these real-life dramas play out in all our countries. Globally, it is estimated that there are over 27 million enslaved persons, with about half in Asia alone.

Matthew Friedman, a United Nations international expert in human trafficking, will provide a comprehensive overview of the human trafficking problem throughout Asia – what it is, how it works and what is being done to address it. His presentation will focus on what governments and civil society are doing and how effective this work has been up until now. He will also address the importance of businesses playing a much more active role in fighting slavery by disabling its economic viability through innovative technology and unique, strategic projects that can deliver real change.

As a world leader in many important business sectors, Japan has the potential to play a leadership role in addressing this terrible global problem. One way of doing this is through voluntary supply chain audits to encourage food and product businesses to play a proactive role in addressing anti-slavery within the private sector. This and other remedies will be explored during Mr. Friedman’s presentation.

December 15, 2011, (Thursday) 14:00-15:30 (registration begins at 13:30)

JETRO AB Conference room, 5th Floor, Ark Mori Building　
( 1-12-32 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo )
*Roppongi-1chome station (N-05, Namboku line): Exit 3, 1 minute walk
*Tameike-sanno station (G-06 & N-06, Namboku & Ginza line): Exit 13, 3 minute walk
*Kamiyacho station (H-05, Hibiya line): Exit 4B, 12 minutes walk
*Akasaka station (C-06, Chiyoda line): Exit 5, 12 minutes walk
*Kokkai-gijidomae station (M-14 & C-07, Marunouchi & Chiyoda line): Exit 3, 15 minutes walk

Mr. Matthew Friedman (UNAIP, Regional Project Manager in Bangkok)
Mr. Friedman is an international human trafficking expert with over 20 years of experience as an activist, program designer, evaluator and manager. He is currently the Regional Project Manager of the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP) in Bangkok, Thailand. UNIAP is managed by a headquarters in Bangkok, with country project offices in the capitals of Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. It represents one of the world’s largest inter-agency coordinating body on human trafficking linking the United Nations system with governments, civil society and private groups in the region and beyond.

Mr. Friedman has designed and managed both country and regional human trafficking programs (South Asia, Bangladesh and Nepal), helped to establish a counter-trafficking regional training center, and participated in resource mobilization and production of two award-winning international films on the subject. In addition to his work with UNIAP, Mr. Friedman regularly participates and presents at many of the major human trafficking conferences throughout the world. Mr. Friedman is also the author of nine books on a wide variety of subjects, including fiction, philosophy, and technical subjects.
English (No simultaneous English-Japanese interpretation is available.)

IDE-JETRO

Free

Contact: External Relations Division, Research Promotion Department, IDE-JETRO (Please contact to Ms.SHIMIZU) Tel:043-299-9536　FAX：043-299-9726 E-mail：seminar (do not copy and paste address, formatted differently to prevent spam)