Ranchi, Jharkhand March 26, 2015 :: The U.S. Consulate General – Kolkata and NGO Shakti Vahini will host the Fourth Annual Anti-Trafficking in Persons Conclave in Ranchi from March 27-28, 2015. The Conclave will be inaugurated on March 27th by U.S. Consul General Helen LaFave, Minister Louis Marandi, Department of Welfare ( including Minority Welfare ), Social Welfare, Women and Child Development, and Minister Neera Yadav, Department of Human Resource Development, both from the Government of Jharkhand. With an overarching theme of“Working Together to Combat Human Trafficking”, this conclave will bring together key stakeholders at the local, regional, national and international levels from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Burma, France and the United States to share best practices and develop an agenda to combat this form of modern day slavery.
According to U.S. Consul General, Helen LaFave, “India and the U.S. are partners in this fight. These conclaves are held together by a common underlying thread: to build a network of champions against human trafficking.”The 4th Conclave on Anti-Trafficking in Persons in Ranchi is generously supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of State through the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Consulate General in Kolkata.
According to data released by the Indian Social Welfare, Women and Children Development Department, trafficking in Jharkhand has increased threefold in just the past three years. NGO Shakti Vahini President Ravi Kant noted, “The 4th Anti-TIP Conclave will address enhancing coordinated efforts in addressing this problem. Our goal is to bring together government, the business community, law enforcement agencies, civil society organizations, media and the legal establishment to tackle this growing menace.” Drawing from the success of the past three conclaves, held in Kolkata and Guwahati, which encouraged increased networking and sharing of best practices, the 4th Conclave in Ranchi will continue to build on strengthening stakeholder partnerships and co-operation in the Bihar-Jharkhand region.
The 4th Anti-Trafficking in Persons Conclave will begin with two plenary sessions dedicated to discussions on dimensions of human trafficking and stateagency responses to trafficking in persons. Four parallel break-away sessions will then underscore other related issues including, safe migration and labor trafficking, media reporting and responses, corporate social responsibility programs and rehabilitation of survivors and the SAARC protocol and responses to cross-border trafficking. The final session on Day 1 will include a sharing of local initiatives in Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh which have been used to effectively to combat trafficking in persons.
Day 2 will begin with a discussion by students from leading local educational institutions in Jharkhand, to educate and empower the next generation of anti-TIP activists.This will be followed by two sessions on government initiatives and multilateral institutions’ responses to human trafficking. The final session will work with all participating stakeholders to devise a strategy for the way forward based on the discussions and learnings from the various sessions of the Conclave.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das will be the Chief Guest and Keynote Speaker at the Concluding Session of the Conlave, adding weight to the state government’s efforts to combat human trafficking in the region.
The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Conclaves underscore the commitment of the U.S. Consulate General in Kolkata to serve as a key partner with local and regional anti-trafficking organizations who are working to eliminate human trafficking.
