Luxor, Egypt

(Luxor, 12 December 2010) – A high-level forum on human trafficking, bringing together over 200 leaders from business, government, civil society, academia, and the media concluded in Luxor/Egypt today. The event had been convened by End Human Trafficking Now! (EHTN) and the Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT). During the closing ceremony of the event, the first Business Leader’s Award to Fight Human Trafficking* was presented to three corporate executives, recognizing their commitment, creativity and leadership in fighting human trafficking. The awardees were:

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

According to EHTN, human trafficking has many complicated origins and manifests itself in a variety of forms: from the sex trade to labour exploitation, from child soldiering to street begging, from bondage to domestic servitude. It therefore requires multi-faceted solutions engaging all stakeholders. Business efforts to combat human trafficking are seen as an essential part of the response, including corporate responsibility, social marketing, social entrepreneurship and leveraging core business strengths.

Additional resources to fight human trafficking were launched during the event, including:

• An E-Learning Tool on Human Trafficking which aims to help businesses better understand human trafficking, identifies areas where they may be at risk and presents actions to address these risks (EHTN/UN.GIFT), and
• The Luxor Implementation Guidelines to the Athens Ethical Principles: Comprehensive Compliance Programme for Businesses facilitates implementation of the Athens Principles – seven values against human trafficking endorsed by companies in 2006 (EHTN). 
   

Contact

Ursula Wynhoven
wynhoven@un.org

*A biennial initiative, the Business Leader’s Award to Fight Human Trafficking is jointly presented by the End Human Trafficking Now! Campaign (EHTN) of the Suzanne Mubarak Women’s International Peace Movement (SMWIPM), the United Nations-led Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT), and the UN Global Compact.