The outcome of December's Mekong Inter-Ministerial Meeting on trafficking is a milestone for anti-trafficking efforts, according to World Vision Asia-Pacific regional advocacy director Laurence Gray.

On Friday December 15, governments of the six countries of the Greater Mekong Sub-region signed a joint declaration at the meeting in Beijing to show their ongoing commitment to combat human trafficking, exploitative labour and sex exploitation.

The meeting, the second for the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against Trafficking (COMMIT), involved governments, authorities and agencies from China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

Also in attendance was a youth representative, 19 year old Mr You Fangkun, to present the recommendations from September's Mekong Youth Forum in Bangkok to senior ministers and policy-makers.

His presentation was the culmination of over a year of youth participation initiatives to involve young people in trafficking solutions, facilitated in partnership by World Vision, Save the Children, UNIAP and ILO.

By signing the declaration, participating countries showed their ongoing agreement to enhance cross-border and regional co-operation to eliminate trafficking, known as the COMMIT process.

They also agreed on regular consultation with communities and trafficked persons, one of World Vision's key hopes for the conference outcomes.

Our collaborative efforts to have voices of children heard and represented at this senior level were welcome and supported by the governments in the session, said Laurence Gray after the meeting closed.

This is a milestone for us. Governments now recognise the importance of consultation with trafficked persons in the development, implementations and evaluations of anti-trafficking initiatives.

World Vision's anti-trafficking initiatives operate in five Mekong countries, including Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar. In addition, regional interventions help to implement and monitor anti-trafficking policies and practices in the Greater Mekong Sub-region.

In particular, World Vision works to protect children and reduce their vulnerability to trafficking, particularly in areas where child labour is common, where families move in search of work or children are displaced by family or community violence.

It is estimated that up to 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked across borders each year, as many as 50% of them under the age of eighteen.

To organise interviews with World Vision's regional trafficking spokespeople, contact Katie Chalk, +855 12 833 359, katie_chalk@wvi.org