Ricky Martin: Our duty to fight child trafficking

By RICKY MARTIN

Convinced that every child deserves a childhood, I established the Ricky Martin Foundation to fight for their well-being in three critical areas: social justice, education and health.

But when I visited India in 2002 and witnessed the horrors of human trafficking, as we rescued three trembling girls living on the street in plastic bags, I knew the foundation had to shed a light on a taboo subject: human trafficking.

Preventing these girls from falling prey to human trafficking was a personal awakening.

Two years after my visit to India, we launched People for Children, the foundation's principal project, to provide education and support for international efforts seeking the elimination of human trafficking -- with special emphasis on children. This unscrupulous market generates up to $32 billion annually, an amount rivaling that of the trafficking of arms and drugs. UNICEF estimates that 1.2 million children are trafficked every year for exploitation purposes such as forced labor, commercial sexual exploitation and prostitution, among other forms of slavery.

In the fall of 2006, I had the opportunity to address the U.S. Congress' House International Relations Committee and encouraged all of the world's countries to ratify the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child and enforce a strong birth-registration policy, among other standards. Following this hearing, the foundation joined the Action Group to End Human Trafficking, headquartered in Washington, D.C., which lobbies for adequate public policymaking aimed at deterring this global nightmare.

To fight this horrible crime, the foundation also joined forces with the Inter-American Development Bank and the International Organization for Migration to launch Call and Live -- the first regional campaign to combat human trafficking in the Americas. Already operating in Peru, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic, dozens of lives have been saved through hot lines that have received over 55,000 phone calls and fostered 60 investigations. This year, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Panama and the Latino community in D.C. will unite.

Unfortunately, violence committed toward children is also rampant over the Internet. In order to help prevent cybercrimes, the foundation and Microsoft responded by launching Navega Protegido -- an online child-safety campaign that consists of a website with videos and educational materials that provide teachers, students and parents tools to protect children from hazards on the Internet such as pornography, predators and identity theft.

As an advocate of children's rights and a strong believer in alliances, I invite you to join our fight. It's our common duty to uphold the principles of social justice for our most vulnerable population: the world's children, to whom both the present and future belongs.

React. It's time.

Ricky Martin, a native of Puerto Rico, is a five-time Grammy Award winner who learned about children's suffering firsthand while touring Latin America with the boy band Menudo. To learn more about his projects, visit www.rickymartin foundation.org

Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt (and the baby bump) muck in with Clinton to clean up New Orleans

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Jolie and Brad Pitt took time out from Hollywood glamour to take part in charity work for the victims of hurricane Katrina.

The happy couple joined former president Bill Clinton for the 'Make a difference, make a commitment' Campaign in New Orleans.

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Looking swell: Pregnant Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt with local resident Dee Carla Rogers on Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans on Sunday

Jolie showed off her growing baby bump, looking relaxed in a hippie-inspired maxi dress, as doting father-to-be Pitt helped the 600 volunteers clean up the neighbourhood devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

The massive project was organised by Pitt's Make it Right Foundation aided by the Clinton Global Initiative.

The actress is reportedly expecting twins, with sources saying she and partner Pitt are "absolutely ecstatic" at the prospect.

Twins will mean the couple will be parents to six children. The family currently consists of Maddox, 6, Pax, 4, Zahara, 3, and biological daughter Shiloh, 1.

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Giving back: Angelina and Brad pose with former residents of New Orleans

Helping hand: Brad and Bill Clinton get stuck in, cleaning up the area devastated by Hurricane Katrina

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