The 14th IACC conference in Bangkok, Thailand

In the next 5 years Brazil is set to play host to the World Cup, the Olympics and the Rio+20 Summit, and most importantly, of course, the 15th IACC. Just 30 years ago Brazil was under military rule and had its fair share of economic problems. The transition between these two phases and the way the evolution took place has been remarkable. We take a look at what has happened between now and then and how much or how little the BRICS label has had to do with the shift. Read more »

“Corruption is the oil that fuels the human trafficking machine,” remarked Danish anti-human-trafficking NGO Hope Now’s head Ms. Anne Brandt Christensen during this morning’s workshop “Corruption and Human Trafficking: Unraveling the Undistinguishable for a Better Fight.”

She’s right.  Despite the fact that almost every country has passed laws against slavery, National Geographic recently reported that there are still over 27 million slaves today—toiling in locations as diverse as the brick kilns of South India and piaçaba plantations of Brazil, the brothels of Svey Pak and Sonagachi, and in the agricultural industries of California and Florida that put food on the plates of millions of Americans daily.

It’s impossible to explain this discrepancy without acknowledging the inextricable link between corruption and human trafficking, and that’s precisely what this morning’s panelists set out to do.

Photo: Ricardo Valdes discusses Peru’s efforts to empower and motivate government officials to take sex trafficking seriously

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