Ashshash Project, Social Responsibility (SR) Asia pledges solidarity for survivors of human trafficking

Winrock International's Ashshash Project supported by the Swiss Embassy and Social Responsibility Asia (SR ASIA) have teamed up to affirm the mobilisation of resources, exhibit advanced CSR practices, and enable sensitisation on Trafficking-in-Persons (TIP) issues amongst public and private sector organisations. 

To this end, they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the project office on Sunday, reads a press release.

This collaboration solidifies the process of mobilising CSR resources to successfully enable the socio-economic reintegration of TIP survivors; through a sustainable approach. 

Mobilizing such resources in an effective manner will act as a quick form of relief to resuscitate the severely pandemic-afflicted marginalized population, the press statement stated. 

Furthermore, there remains substantial scope to improve CSR practices beyond performative gestures through policy advocacies, dialogue sessions, and multi-level stakeholder engagement; in order to achieve sustainability. 

It said ensuring this will in turn also facilitate the procession of safe migration and viable economic empowerment of the survivors, and strengthen counter-trafficking activities via relevant awareness programming, facilitation of pre-departure training, etc. The partnership will also seek exploration of the opportunity to forge value-chain linkages and linkages with various financial institutions for grass-root entrepreneurs, and for the development of entrepreneurship development programming. The project will also collaboratively promote the significance of ethical and human-rights friendly business practices through a variety of CSR campaigns with industry leaders, trade associations, policy-makers, etc.

Dipta Rakshit, team leader of Ashshash at Winrock International; and Sumaya Rashid, country director (Bangladesh) of SR Asia, signed the MoU on behalf of the respective organisations. 

Additionally, Omar Faruk, training and employment manager; Ashraful Islam, private sector engagement manager; and Masnoon Fairuz Haque, communications officer, were in observance of the ceremony of behalf of the Ashshash project, Winrock International. 

Shakhawat Hossain, program manager; and Shajedur Rahman, financial advisor, were present in observance of the ceremony on behalf of SR Asia.