In January 2025, Mrs Rosalin Kowae, World Vision Thailand National Director, along with staff, met with Mr Ratchapon Maneelek, Director of Division of Anti-Trafficking in Persons, Office of The Permanent Secretary for Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, and his executive team, to seek collaboration for strengthening child protection efforts and anti-trafficking implementation in Thailand.
For the past 50 years, children have been the heart of World Vision Thailand’s ministries. World Vision Thailand is now operating in 22 areas in 55 districts, covering 35 provinces nationwide, through partnering with more than 2,000 community-based volunteers. “Protecting children from abuse and risks is one of our priorities. The forms of human trafficking have become more severe and diverse, posing a greater threat to victims. In addition, World Vision Thailand has implemented the USAID Thailand CTIP project from 2017 to 2025, which aims to combat human trafficking in Thailand. The collaboration resulting from this discussion with Division of Anti-Trafficking in Persons will strengthen both World Vision Thailand’s efforts and government implementations, ultimately benefiting children and the entire community,” Mrs Rosalin Kowae, World Vision Thailand National Director, gave an overview of the organisation’s ministries and explained the purpose of this meeting.
Division of Anti-Trafficking in Persons, Ministry of Social Development and Human Security plays key roles in the prevention and protection efforts. “We adhere to our heart of implementation to enable a better society, free from human trafficking, aiming to prevent and monitor risks arising in the community, particularly human trafficking in children in marginalised communities and migrant children and children of migrant workers. These are risks connecting to possible human trafficking,” said Mr Ratchapon Maneelek, Director of Division of Anti-Trafficking in Persons.
This joint discussion has created an opportunity to foster a stronger partnership between Division of Anti-Trafficking in Persons, Ministry of Social Development and Human Security and World Vision Thailand to protect children and combat human trafficking, especially among urban, rural, and marginalised children, as well as migrant children and children of migrant workers. This initiative will encompass a wide range of prevention activities, including developing educational materials for schools to raise awareness about human trafficking, child and youth involvement in anti-human trafficking and child protection. Lessons learned from World Vision Thailand’s operations will be utilised to develop a provincial-level national referral mechanism model. This will contribute to the broader goal of establishing an international referral mechanism.
Because various forms of trafficking in persons can happen to any child nowadays, this collaboration marks the beginning of a stronger effort beyond child protection to combat human trafficking in Thailand.
