International Organization for Migration Holds Teacher Training Seminar on HIV/AIDS, Human Trafficking

More than 400 Ethiopian teachers yesterday gathered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for a five-day seminar on combating human trafficking and the spread of HIV in the country, Agence France-Presse reports. A study by the International Organization for Migration found that since 1999, at least 10,000 young people have been taken from Ethiopia and brought to the Middle East under the pretense of employment. There is an "urgent need" to protect young people in primary and secondary schools, including girls ages 12 and older, from trafficking and HIV/AIDS, Meera Sethi, IOM representative to Ethiopia, said, according to Agence France-Presse (Agence France-Presse, 8/25). In addition, an IOM survey of more than 3,400 Ethiopian young people in grades seven through 10 found that three out of five students would like to leave the country in search of employment. The seminar, titled "Training of Trainers on Human Trafficking, HIV/AIDS and Girls' Education," which is part of an IOM project launched in November 2002, aims to train teachers to sensitize their students to the dangers of human trafficking and to encourage them to pursue their education. Most new HIV cases in Ethiopia among women are among women ages 20 to 29, with infection usually occurring between the ages of 12 and 21 (IOM release, 8/22).