Development and Education Program for Daughters and Communities DEPDC
( Non Governmental Organization )Organization Info Edit
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Network [Add] · [List] · [Visualize]
Connected with 0 organizations
Connected with 0 people
Connected with 0 resources
Connected with 0 solutions
Connected with 0 jobs
Connected with 0 events
Connected with 0 wikipages
About [Edit]
DEPDC is a community-based organisation offering education and full-time accommodation for children to prevent them from being trafficked into the sex industry or other exploitative child-labour situations.
DEPDC is recognised locally, nationally and internationally. Its director Sompop Jantraka, an Ashoka Fellow, is a member of several associations and regularly participates in conferences related to child trafficking and the sex industry. Mr. Jantraka was nominated as one of 25 Asian Heroes by TIME Magazine in April 2002.
BACKGROUND
The past decade has seen significant growth in trafficking in people worldwide, a blatant abuse of human rights with devastating consequences for the millions of individuals, families, and communities affected by this crime. Victims of trafficking comprise both women and children of Thai nationality [now a minority], women and children of ethnic hill tribe minorities who reside in Thailand without citizenship and foreign women form Burma, China and Laos [who now comprise the majority of victims]. Many come to Thailand seeking jobs and new opportunities, but are quickly trapped in a system of abuse with nowhere to turn given that they have no rights of citizenship.
Without citizenship or land tenure the majority of the hill tribe people residing Northern Thailand live in poverty, without access to education, health care or legitimate work opportunities. At the same time, their way of life, traditions and values are being rapidly eroded due to foreign influence, national development strategies, and the influx of consumer goods. In hill-tribe villages as well as the greater Mekong Region, drug addiction and sales as well as the prevalence of HIV/AIDS are insidious problems breaking down families and communities.
Brothel owners have networks of agents combing the villages, seeking out troubled families caught in the cycle of debt with few options. These traffickers can appear to be the answer to families’ financial struggles and fears, with their simple solution of exchanging their young daughters for money. This system is a complicated web involving relatives, village and city authorities, police, Government officials and business people who all benefit from the girls’ labour.
Since its founding, DEPDC has helped over 1000 children from the Mekong sub-region [incorporating Thailand, Laos, Burma and the Yunnan Province of China]. Rather than succumb to the sex industry or other exploitative child labour situations, these young children have received further schooling or vocational training as a good start to a healthy life.
THE PROGRAM
The Daughters Education Program was begun in 1989 by its present director Mr. Sompop Jantraka. From the outset, it was conceived as a community-based initiative aimed at preventing girls being forced into the sex industry. It`s headquarters are in Mae Sai, the northernmost town in Thailand. From these bases staff work among Akha and other hill tribe groups and lowland villages. DEPDC offers girls from under 20 years old an alternative to prostitution by providing them with education, job training and help in finding work. From the initial group of 19 students in 1989, the program now supports over 360 girls and boys. DEP is now one of several projects conducted by the Development and Educational Program for Daughters and Communities, DEPDC.
Every year DEP in conjunction with reachers, village leaders and monks identifies children most at risk. They are often girls and boys about to complete their primary schooling, but who are denied access to further free education or government scholarships. Many have older sisters or other relatives already working as prostitutes.They may be orphans or their parents may be drug addicts or divorced.
AIMS OF DEPDC
Prevent children from being forced into the sex industry or child labour.
Support educational opportunities for disadvantaged children and children from poor and broken homes.
Give the children an opportunity for life development and life skills training.
Strengthen families and communities.
Work for community development and information exchange across a wide network.
DEPDC is recognised locally, nationally and internationally. Its director Sompop Jantraka, an Ashoka Fellow, is a member of several associations and regularly participates in conferences related to child trafficking and the sex industry. Mr. Jantraka was nominated as one of 25 Asian Heroes by TIME Magazine in April 2002.
BACKGROUND
The past decade has seen significant growth in trafficking in people worldwide, a blatant abuse of human rights with devastating consequences for the millions of individuals, families, and communities affected by this crime. Victims of trafficking comprise both women and children of Thai nationality [now a minority], women and children of ethnic hill tribe minorities who reside in Thailand without citizenship and foreign women form Burma, China and Laos [who now comprise the majority of victims]. Many come to Thailand seeking jobs and new opportunities, but are quickly trapped in a system of abuse with nowhere to turn given that they have no rights of citizenship.
Without citizenship or land tenure the majority of the hill tribe people residing Northern Thailand live in poverty, without access to education, health care or legitimate work opportunities. At the same time, their way of life, traditions and values are being rapidly eroded due to foreign influence, national development strategies, and the influx of consumer goods. In hill-tribe villages as well as the greater Mekong Region, drug addiction and sales as well as the prevalence of HIV/AIDS are insidious problems breaking down families and communities.
Brothel owners have networks of agents combing the villages, seeking out troubled families caught in the cycle of debt with few options. These traffickers can appear to be the answer to families’ financial struggles and fears, with their simple solution of exchanging their young daughters for money. This system is a complicated web involving relatives, village and city authorities, police, Government officials and business people who all benefit from the girls’ labour.
Since its founding, DEPDC has helped over 1000 children from the Mekong sub-region [incorporating Thailand, Laos, Burma and the Yunnan Province of China]. Rather than succumb to the sex industry or other exploitative child labour situations, these young children have received further schooling or vocational training as a good start to a healthy life.
THE PROGRAM
The Daughters Education Program was begun in 1989 by its present director Mr. Sompop Jantraka. From the outset, it was conceived as a community-based initiative aimed at preventing girls being forced into the sex industry. It`s headquarters are in Mae Sai, the northernmost town in Thailand. From these bases staff work among Akha and other hill tribe groups and lowland villages. DEPDC offers girls from under 20 years old an alternative to prostitution by providing them with education, job training and help in finding work. From the initial group of 19 students in 1989, the program now supports over 360 girls and boys. DEP is now one of several projects conducted by the Development and Educational Program for Daughters and Communities, DEPDC.
Every year DEP in conjunction with reachers, village leaders and monks identifies children most at risk. They are often girls and boys about to complete their primary schooling, but who are denied access to further free education or government scholarships. Many have older sisters or other relatives already working as prostitutes.They may be orphans or their parents may be drug addicts or divorced.
AIMS OF DEPDC
Prevent children from being forced into the sex industry or child labour.
Support educational opportunities for disadvantaged children and children from poor and broken homes.
Give the children an opportunity for life development and life skills training.
Strengthen families and communities.
Work for community development and information exchange across a wide network.
Contributors to this Page
