Asia Foundation nominated Cecil Flores-Oebanda for Skoll Foundation's Award

The Philippines is one of the world's leading sources of migrant workers. Domestically, there is also large scale internal migration, as people seek what they believe will be better financial opportunities.

Although many of these workers travel and undertake their assignments as planned, a significant number of Filipinos, including children, fall prey to traffickers who exploit them for sex-work and abusive labor.

Today, The Asia Foundation and others working to combat human trafficking gathered to celebrate Visayan Forum Foundation President Ma. Cecilia Flores-Oebanda's recognition as a social entrepreneur by Skoll Foundation.

Cecilia Flores-Oebanda is a leader in the struggle against human trafficking and child labor in the Philippines. The Founder and President of Visayan Forum Foundation Inc., she works for the welfare of marginalized migrants, especially those in the invisible and informal sectors such as domestic and sex workers.

In recognition of her innovative and successful efforts, after a highly competitive international search, she was selected to receive the Skoll Foundation's Award for Social Entrepreneurship. The award was presented to Ms. Oebanda by the Skoll Foundation on April 27 at the University of Oxford in England. Present for the award was former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

According to the U.S.-based Skoll Foundation, Ms. Oebanda is "the first Asian awardee, who will join the growing global network of Skoll social entrepreneurs, now numbering 59, who have created innovative, proven solutions for tackling the world's most urgent social and economic challenges."

Ms. Oebanda said that "The Visayan Forum wants to see the day where human trafficking, a modern-day form of slavery, is abolished. Through the concerted efforts of various stakeholders, we want to create a counter-culture against deceit and abuse.

We want to ensure that operations of traffickers will be increasingly difficult and young people, especially women, will be able to find work and explore opportunities without the risk of being abused, exploited, sold and enslaved."

"The Asia Foundation nominated Cecil Flores-Oebanda for this honor because of her valuable contribution to addressing gender-based violence, particularly human trafficking, in the Philippines," said Maribel Buenaobra, Managing Program Officer at The Asia Foundation.