The Cause
Since 2005, the ISS is present in West Africa with programs aimed at professional and social reintegration of children and young people in vulnerable situations, such as victims of trafficking. Hundreds of children have already been helped and can have a better future.
With your financial support of Olivier’s race, we can continue to help children in need. All the money collected through sponsors of the race will support young girls who are victims of exploitation in Western Africa.
Driven by poverty, many girls leave their families to migrate to a city, to a neighboring country and even beyond. In these situations, the risk of exploitation and violence against them is high. Parents are often unaware of risks, and instead encourage their children to emigrate because of their own precarious situation.
Many of these girls work as domestic servants and live with their employers in difficult conditions while earning almost nothing. Often violence and sexual coercion accompany these situations. Others are trafficked and are forced into prostitution.
Our local partners have put in place measures to identify and protect these young girls, find their families and reintegrate them socially and professionally. To ensure the sustainability of reintegration, the organisations follow and support them for a minimum of two years.
The money raised by Olivier will support these individual projects for girls, to assist their families and prevent the departure of other children in risky situations.