IOFA at the National Child Trafficking and Exploitation Conference, Loyola University

Greetings,

We are excited to announce that IOFA will be presenting at this week's National Child Trafficking and Exploitation Conference at Loyola University (Water Tower Campus), Chicago, Illinois, September 22-23rd.

http://www.luc.edu/chrc/Child_Trafficking_an.shtml

The Center for the Human Rights of Children (CHRC) at Loyola University is organizing the conference. Shelby French, Executive Director will be speaking on a panel about the Building Child Welfare Response to Child Trafficking project at 1:30pm, Wednesday, September 22nd. The Building Child Welfare Response project is a collaborative effort between IOFA and CHRC, and the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services. The purpose of the project is to address systemic gaps in policies, protocols, and practice for proper identification and response to child and youth victims of trafficking. IOFA and CHRC will be publishing a monograph outlining the project in October 2010. This is a very exciting and ground breaking effort. To date, there has been little state or federal effort to integrate protective and response mechanisms in state or private child welfare organizations for child and youth victims of trafficking. We hope to replicate this project in other states and with other child-focused organizations nationally and globally.

We'll be talking more about the importance and the impact of this project in the future here at IOFA-Talk!

Additionally at this week's conference, IOFA will be co-sponsoring a free evening film event focusing on child trafficking and exploitation in Cambodia. Following are details for the event:

"Redlight" and "Holly"

Film Excerpts and Commentary from Award Winning Director, Guy Jacobson

6:30-8pm,

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Loyola University, Water Tower Campus

23 E. Pearson

Chicago, IL

This event is free and open to the public

Hope to see you all there!

Shelby
ED, IOFA

Welcome to IOFA Talk!

The International Organization for Adolescents welcomes you to IOFA Talk!  We are very excited about getting this new endeavor started.  We invite all visitors to join us in our efforts to support vulnerable young people around the world. 

IOFA Talk will focus on:

• New IOFA projects and campaigns
• Emerging and critical problems faced by vulnerable youth world wide
• Voices of professionals and key stakeholders in the protection of vulnerable youth
• Responding to questions and concerns from our supporters
• The voices of youth themselves; giving our project participants an opportunity to share their experiences

Last year IOFA celebrated it's 10th anniversary.  As we emerge into our second decade, we are going through a process of reinvigoration and renewal.  Activities coming up in the next few months include:

• A new 3 year strategic plan for the organization
• A newly designed website and blog
• Announcements of new partnerships and areas of focus
• A renewed fundraising and outreach campaign
• And results and outcomes of our current efforts and ongoing projects

We invite you to visit, comment, and contribute.

The mission of IOFA is to improve the lives of young people by addressing critical and emerging issues affecting vulnerable adolescents around the world.  IOFA envisions a world where adolescents and youth are no longer subject to exploitation, violence and neglect; a world where every young person is able to exercise their human rights and realize their full potential as positive and productive members of society.

We strongly believe that this new avenue of communication will support our mission and help us achieve our vision.

Looking forward to hearing from all of you!

Shelby French
Executive Director
IOFA
http://www.iofa.org/
http://www.iofa-talk.blogspot.com/