Manchester United backs China's efforts to combat trafficking of women and childrenLONDON, 4 July 2005 – UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund today announced a two year commitment from Manchester United to support their work with the Government of China to combat the trafficking of women and children within the country. The pledge forms part of Manchester United's six year partnership with UNICEF. Since 2003, the club has been committed to raising money and awareness specifically for UNICEF UK's campaign to End Child Exploitation across the world. One of the faces of exploitation is the trafficking of women and children, a major and growing problem worldwide. Asia is one of the regions which have the largest number of children and women trafficked. More than 10,000 women and children are trafficked each year. The pilot venture will see Manchester United contribute $400,000 (£204,760) to a pilot programme in Sichuan Province with the aim of enhancing the prevention, rescue and rehabilitation of children and women who are at risk or victims of trafficking. Developed by UNICEF, in collaboration with government counterparts the project will assist the fight against trafficking in China at policy and grass roots level. Children of both sexes are potential targets for traffickers. In China, poverty, lack of opportunities in rural areas and lack of education are all part of the picture. Over the two year period Manchester United's contribution to UNICEF will be spent on delivering a girls trafficking prevention training programme in primary and middle schools reaching five counties; a multi-media, multi-level communication campaign; support for the recovery and rehabilitation of trafficking victims. UNICEF is also assisting in the development of a national plan of action for anti-trafficking and appropriate legislation. UNICEF representative Dr Christian Voumard said: “UNICEF, in partnership with the Government of China is committed to combating the trafficking of women and children, one of the worst crimes of human rights violation and an issue which is global, regional and national. We are delighted that Manchester United has added its powerful voice to speak out against this heinous crime and welcome the club's funding at the all important prevention stage whilst at the same time supporting UNICEF’s rescue and rehabilitation work to help women and child victims rebuild their lives. We believe this three-pronged approach is a strong model to break the vicious circle” Manchester United Chief Executive David Gill said: "Manchester United has a responsibility to the next generation and our partnership with UNICEF allows us to support the issues where we can be most effective. We are committed to improving children's lives and having seen UNICEF's work across the world we are confident that this project will help rebuild lives and at the same time prevent more children from being harmed in the future." This is not the first time Manchester United has supported UNICEF's work in China. Since the United for UNICEF partnership began in 1999 UNICEF has guided Manchester United on where there is a need and where the club's support can be most effective to protect and improve the lives of children. In 2000 players featured in a no smoking campaign and in 2004 the club committed funding to an HIV/AIDS prevention programme in Yunnan Province. To date Manchester United has raised over £1.5 million for UNICEF. For further information: UK CHINA
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