Building Awareness to Reduce Child Trafficking

Children’s Future Inc. (CFI) serves 251 vulnerable children and their families in Battambang, Cambodia. As a result of poverty and a weakened infrastructure, children and youth—particularly girls—face increased risks of trafficking, exploitation, abuse, and neglect.

Since it’s founding in 2009 by Jenny Ciucci and Andrew Wolff, CFI offers a holistic model of education and child well-being services (including basic needs, community outreach to at-risk families and child protection) to keep vulnerable children safe from such threats and surrounded by positive role models that support each child’s self-worth.

Although nationwide poverty has been significantly reduced over the past 10 years through Cambodia’s economic growth and improvement of the local infrastructure, the lack of social services continues to put families with low income, no employment, or health issues at serious risk. Children in particular suffer from the lack of social services.

Over the last couple of years, CFI social workers have prevented 54 cases of child trafficking and 140 cases of child labor. Social workers developed 58 Village Parent Groups (VPGs) around the region, all trained to identify and respond to human trafficking, and staff delivered child-safety workshops to 35-50 caretakers each month.

Through your support of One Great Hour of Sharing, increased awareness of and ability to prevent child safety threats like trafficking and forced labor are being achieved.