Frequently Asked Questions

The Mekong Youth Forum on Human Trafficking (MYF) is a Subregional meeting that follows a series of several national forums.  You already took part in one of them and will now work with other young delegates from the Greater Mekong Sub-region to come up with ways to fight human trafficking.  Senior government officials from the region will join on the last day to hear your statements, recommendations and calls for action against human trafficking. 

Young people in this region are more vulnerable to trafficking than older people. There are a number of reasons for that and we can all learn what makes young people so vulnerable if we listen to someone like you. Hearing your views, first hand, helps policy makers better target their responses to prevent trafficking and provide better protection.

We want policy makers and the general public to recognize the value of consulting young people vulnerable to trafficking. By doing so we hope decision makers will regularly seek your views and opinions about trafficking as well as ways to prevent labour and sexual exploitation.

You have a different perspective than an adult does. As we get older and take on positions of authority, we tend to forget those perspectives. Also governments in this region are obliged to take your opinions into account (article 12 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child).

You and other youth delegates will come here to share your views as a group of Mekong youth. Since trafficking so often involves cross-border movements, you can learn from each other and together you will develop a unique set of sub-regional recommendations that reflects your needs.

You and the rest of the youth delegates will share your recommendations with senior policy makers from your governments in a joint session towards the end of the forum. Since this is the 2nd gathering of young people on trafficking (the first was in 2004), it is anticipated that more consultations will be conducted with policy makers and administrators at all levels.

The fact that we are having this second round of consultation is already a success. The level of interest in this process has grown considerably since 2004. We now have 2 new partners at the regional level and are mobilizing more resources at the national level. Some of the participants from 2004 are now young leaders in the fight against human trafficking in their own countries. As this process of youth consultation becomes more established, the success will be self-evident.