GAATW E-bulletin 2019
Dear friends,
Warm greetings from Bangkok!
This year marks GAATW's 25th Anniversary! As our International Coordinator shared in her end of year message, we spent some time last year in conversations with our members and partners, reflecting on the lessons learnt over the past quarter of a century , and deliberating on the future priorities of our Alliance.
Now it's time to put these inspiring conversations into action, as we mark our anniversary year . In 2019 will strengthen the Alliance through inter-regional and cross-sectoral knowledge- sharing and learning by holding two global consultations: on Prevention of Trafficking and Unsafe Migration in April, and a knowledge-sharing forum on Women, Work and Migration in the last quarter of the year . Given the limited funding for this type of convening, we will also organise a number of webinars on topics identified by the GAATW Secretariat and members, such as feminism, movement building, trafficking in conflict, labour , sex work, as well as inter-regional migration. Where possible and needed, we will organise learning trips for members and partners in origin and destination countries.
GAATW E-bulletin 2018
Dear friends,
It's been a whole year since we published our last English-language bulletin. We were caught in a whirlwind of projects activities, deadlines, conferences, and workshops, and we had less time for reflection and communication with our members and partners, although many exchanges around concrete issues or events did take place. Adding to that was the strained human resource situation within our team, with two colleagues leaving the organisation in January-March and two in September-October . However , we were pleased to welcome two new colleagues at the end of 2017 - Eunha Gim as Programme Officer Research and Ratna Mathai-Luke as Programme Officer Asia.
With new additions to the team and new energy at the beginning of the year , it is our wish for the new year (we won't say resolution!) to make the time to inform you more regularly about our work. We do believe it is important to share our successes, challenges and insights with all of you, as well as learn from yours.
In 2017 we continued working on our three thematic priorities - Accountability, Access to Justice, and Power in Migration and Work - as well as our core activities of research, advocacy, and participatory learning.
Boletín en español, 2018
"¿Por qué tenemos a toda esa gente de países de mierda viniendo aquí?" con este desafortunado comentario recogido por "The Washington Post" , el presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump inicia el 2018 y establece claramente cuál será la política migratoria en el país al cual migra el mayor número de personas latinoamericanas. Si bien la referencia estaba, en ese momento, dirigida a países africanos, Haití y El Salvador, no nos queda la menor duda que piensa lo mismo de los países caribeños, centroamericanos y los vecinos de Sudamérica.
Cuando Trump aspiraba a convertirse en el presidente de Estados Unidos ya se sabía, según el censo de 2010, que la población de origen latino equivalía a 50.477.594 personas, el 16,3% de los más de 308 millones de habitantes del país norteamericano. A este número habría que agregar los más de 11 millones de personas latinoamericanas que viven en situación irregular y, por lo tanto, expuestas al abuso y a condiciones de explotación.
La migración irregular no es un fenómeno únicamente direccionado hacia los Estados Unidos. Este flujo migratorio atraviesa toda Latino américa y se da a niveles norte-sur, centro-sur y sur-sur, buscando las personas migrantes mejores condiciones de vida o de seguridad. Las altas tasas de violencia y asesinatos que se producen en Centro América (según ONUDD, 41 homicidios por cada 100.000 habitantes, muy por encima del promedio mundial de 6,9 homicidios por 100.000 habitantes), impulsan la migración de la población más vulnerable, pobre, hacia lugares que brinden oportunidades y protección.
GAATW E-bulletin 2017
Dear friends,
At the beginning of the New Year, we would like to take a moment to reflect on the one that passed. As 2016 was drawing to an end, there seemed to be a widespread consensus that it had been a terrible year.
The war in Syria entered into its fifth year and thousands of people lost their lives, while hundreds of thousands continued trying to flee to safety. As a response to this so-called 'migrant crisis' , the European Union (EU) struck a deal to return refugees to Turkey and went on to plan similar deals with African nations and Afghanistan, despite the protest of civil society. In India the sudden demonetisation hit poor people the hardest and risks exacerbating poverty and undermining social trust even further. In the Philippines, the newly-elected president encouraged the extrajudicial killings of suspected drug dealers and drug users, with the death toll rising every day. In Latin America, Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff was removed from office after a coup, and throughout the continent leftist governments lost popularity. In Europe and the US, xenophobia and right-wing populism continued to rise, culminating in the two events that shook the world and are likely to have the worst implications for 2017 and the coming years: the UK's vote to leave the EU and the US vote to elect a xenophobic, sexist and climate change-denying president. Although the impacts of these two votes on migration, human and labour rights around the world are yet to be seen, we have few reasons to be hopeful.
Boletín en español, 2017
Queridas amigas y amigos:
Para comenzar el año, nos gustaría reflexionar sobre lo que ha pasado durante el 2016, puesto que parece haber un amplio consenso en que ha sido un año terrible.
La guerra en Siria entró en su quinto año y miles de personas han sido asesinadas mientras cientos de miles siguen tratando de ponerse a salvo. Como respuesta a esta llamada "crisis de los inmigrantes" , la Unión Europea (UE) firmó un acuerdo para devolver a las personas refugiadas a T urquía y, a pesar de las protestas de la sociedad civil, planificó acuerdos similares con diferentes naciones africanas. En la India, la desmonetización repentina golpeó a la gente más pobre y amenaza con exacerbar la pobreza y socavar aún más la confianza social. En Filipinas, el nuevo presidente alentó los asesinatos extrajudiciales de presuntos narcotraficantes y usuarios de drogas, y el número de asesinados cada día sigue aumentando. En América Latina, la presidenta brasileña Dilma Rousseff fue destituida después de un golpe de estado y en todo el continente los gobiernos de izquierda han ido perdieron popularidad. En Europa y Estados Unidos, la xenofobia y el populismo de derecha han continuado su ascenso, culminando en dos eventos que sacudieron al mundo y que probablemente tendrán consecuencias durante el 2017 y los próximos años: el voto del Reino Unido para abandonar la UE y la elección en los EE.UU. de un presidente xenófobo, misógino y que niega el cambio climático. Aunque todavía no se han visto los impactos de estos dos votos sobre la migración, los derechos de las mujeres, los derechos humanos y los derechos laborales en todo el mundo, no existen muchas razones para tener esperanza.
Boletín en español, 2016
Queridas amigas y amigos:
Para que una red de organizaciones sociales se fortalezca y desarrolle, debe tener la posibilidad de conocer a fondo y enfrentar con realismo el contexto donde opera, observándolo, analizándolo y actuando sobre él. Esto requiere que sus miembros, con una perspectiva comprometida, sensible, informada y abierta a la crítica, sean capaces de reconocer los ámbitos en los que pueden y deben intervenir. T ambién es necesario que la red tenga la capacidad de compartir con terceros sus experiencias, aprendizajes y fortalezas para entre otros, promover su crecimiento en favor de las personas a las que se debe.
La Alianza Global Contra la Trata de Mujeres (GAATW) no es ajena a esta situación. Con más de 22 años de trabajo, cuenta con vehículos propios para analizar e investigar un fenómeno tan complejo como la trata de personas a nivel mundial. Sus publicaciones en temas centrales como la rendición de cuentas, migración y trabajo o acceso a la justicia son una contribución permanente para el trabajo y el fortalecimiento de las políticas públicas en materia de trata de personas. Además, desde el 2012, publica la ATR (Revista Anti Trata); una revista académica que promueve un acercamiento al problema de la trata de personas, con un enfoque de derechos humanos. La revista ofrece un espacio para el diálogo, que permite compartir nuevas ideas y conclusiones entre diferentes entornos (académico, profesional, las personas que han sufrido trata, sociedad civil...).
GAATW E-bulletin 2016
At the start of a New Year...
We wish all our members, partners and friends a joyous and meaningful 2016. As in the past, we hope to continue working with all of you during this year too.
A highlight of 2015 for us was our Strategic Planning Meeting held in the last quarter of 2015. The meeting, a sequel to our 20th Anniversary Members Congress, brought together members of GAATW International Board and some expert advisors for three days of intensive discussion regarding the future course of the Alliance and the tasks to be undertaken by the Secretariat. We now have a comprehensive work plan for 2016-18 that validates our on-going work and adds exciting new dimensions. So while the Secretariat will continue to work on Accountability, Access to Justice and Power in Migration and Work, we will include new countries and regions in the programmes. We will also explore new themes through our research programme. Our Participatory Learning programme will be more structured and straddle more regions. Global and Regional thematic consultations with members and partners are lined up too. In order to ensure expert guidance for our work, Advisory Groups on Research, Communications and Advocacy have been added to the existing Advisory Group on Media. And most importantly, new colleagues are going to join the Secretariat. We received excellent responses to our vacancy announcements and are currently finalising the selection process. So in summary, 2016 is going to be a busy and exciting year at GAATW-IS. Look out for postings on our website, mailing lists, Facebook and Twitter!
GAATW E-bulletin 2015
Dear Members and Friends,
Greetings from the International Secretariat at the start of 2015! We are very much looking forward to the activities we have planned for the year. Launching the fourth issue of our AntiTrafficking Review looking at 15 years of the UN Trafficking Protocol; international advocacy opportunities at the 59th Commission on the Status of Women and UN Crime Congress; and working with groups on the ground through our project work in Asia and the Middle East to name just a few highlights coming up.
As we enter a new year, we have been reviewing our monthly ebulletin. We want to make sure this ebulletin is as useful and engaging to you as possible. We have therefore decided to send out more frequent and timely emails highlighting important news or opportunities for our work as an Alliance. We will then release longer ebulletins on a quarterly basis which will allow us to bring you more analytical articles, interviews and opinion pieces.
We would very much welcome your feedback on our new format in the coming months. What would you like to see in your ebulletin? What information do you find useful? And if you would like to contribute any content an interview, opinion piece or news about your work please do let us know.