VF President: Cited as one of the Modern Day Abolitionists of Slave Trade

Cecilia Flores-Oebanda campaigns to transform the lives of migrant workers in the Philippines, especially hidden and vulnerable groups such as children forced into domestic servitude, and trafficked women.

Born into poverty in the Visayas, in central Philippines, Cecilia was herself a child labourer, selling fish and  cavenging. In 1991 she founded Visayan Forum to campaign for the rights of migrant workers. Its micro-credit and savings schemes for the poorest families tackle the root causes of child labour and trafficking, and it provides crisis services such as shelters, medical and legal help for adult and child domestic workers.

In 1995 Visayan Forum founded a self-help association of volunteer domestic workers, SUMAPI. The volunteers go to the areas where domestics of all ages meet, such as schools, churches and parks, inform them about their rights and keep track of how they are doing.

Visayan Forum now has six regional offices and seven project areas at strategic locations around the highways and ports of the Philippines. It has developed partnerships with agencies such as the ports authority and the coastguard, to intercept boats carrying potential trafficking victims to countries such as Japan or the Gulf States.

www.antislavery.org/homepage/antislavery/award/cecilia2005.htm