The Kalinga Fellowship, is a 10-year effort to reduce the trafficking of women in Asia. The programme has its roots in India and aims to reduce trafficking and sexual assault by having governments, companies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) work together.
Kalinga Fellowship kicked off with a pilot in March this year in the eastern state of Odisha in India. Over five days, 120 attendees from NGOs, private and public sectors tackled topics such as fighting sexual harassment at work and educating Indians on trafficking.
Kalinga Fellowship aims to run programmes in the rest of Asia too. In 2018, the group intends to focus on Telangana state in south India and then Bangladesh in 2019. It also planned to launch programmes in Cambodia, Philippines, Thailand and Nepal.
Organisers decided to launch the programme in Singapore, as it is a “heart of commercial strength” and businesses have “a profound role in stopping the trafficking of girls in Asia“, said Mr Simon McKenzie, Chief Operating Officer of non-profit Bridge Institute, one of the five partners behind the Kalinga Fellowship.
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Source: The Straits Times, 12 May 2017