Olaolu Olusina
Lagos

Over a thousand participants are expected to converge in Vienna, the Austrian capital today, as a unique coalition of six multilateral organisations converge with NGOs and international companies from across the world to launch a global fight against human trafficking.

The Vienna Forum, which ends on Friday, is being hosted by the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT).

Expected to mobilise resources, co-ordinate international action and empower people to fight the crime in the first global parley to tackle human trafficking, the forum also aims to put the issue on the global agenda and raise awareness of people's everyday complicity in 'a crime that shames us all'.

Celebrities and public figures from across the world, including Suzanne Mubarak, the First Lady of Egypt; Emma Thompson, the Oscar-winning actress; and Ricky Martin, the Puerto Rican, Grammy Award-winning pop star, are expected to participate in the three-day conference.

With millions of victims, in an industry generating tens of billions of dollars each year, human trafficking is 'the hidden crime of globalisation'. UN.GIFT was established in recognition of the fact that human trafficking takes many forms and that a coordinated and united approach is required.

It was launched in March 2007 by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) together with the International Labour Organisation (ILO); the International Organisation for Migration (IOM); the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF); the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Also international companies participating in the Forum include Microsoft and GAP.

During the conference, around 30 IOM specialists from Europe, Asia and Latin America will be involved in a series of panels and workshops with leading experts to discuss topics including: proactive prevention; the role of religious communities; trafficking in post-crisis communities; health issues associated with trafficking; cooperation between civil society and law enforcement; and the return and reintegration of victims.

'The Journey against Sex Trafficking', an interactive exhibit based on the experiences of young women who leave their homes in search of a better life only to find themselves tricked or forced by traffickers to work in the sex industry will also be featured during the conference.

The new exhibit using transport containers to illustrate the brutal experiences of women sold into the sex trade is the brainchild of Thompson. It features seven containers, individually designed by leading artists, showing a different stage in the trafficking process.

"The aim of Journey is to show visitors the reality of human trafficking, a crime that happens every day, all around the world, and to encourage the public, politicians and especially consumers to take action," the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in a statement.

According to UN estimates, about 2.5 million people from 127 countries have been trafficked to 137 countries for purposes such as forced labour, sexual exploitation, the removal of organs and body parts, forced marriages, child adoption and begging.