Swiss charity launches child trafficking campaign

Hundreds of thousands of children around the world are forced to work on the streets Keystone

The Swiss charity, Terre des Hommes, has launched an international campaign to combat child trafficking around the world.

The campaign, which kicked off on Monday, is jointly coordinated from the organisation’s offices in Bern, Geneva and Berlin, and will run until the end of 2003.

Terre des Hommes has already posted its delegates in ten countries, including in Latin America, south-east Asia and Africa, India and Albania.

The campaign targets three different aspects of child trafficking. Its main goal is to raise public awareness about the plight of child labourers around the world.

Terre des Hommes has set up projects it hopes will free children from their work and re-integrate them into society.

The charity also aims to strengthen national and international laws against child trafficking.

Every year, several hundred thousand children are taken from their homes and used as cheap labour. Often, they are forced into prostitution, street crime or begging.

swissinfo with agencies