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FOR
outstanding and innovative contributions to eliminate
human trafficking and other forms of human-rights abuse,
Visayan Forum Foundation Inc. (VFFI) founder and
president Ma. Cecilia Flores-Oebanda will receive an
award today from Skoll Foundation in
Oxford,
England,
along with representatives of 10 other pioneering
organizations of leading social entrepreneurs.
Oebanda
is the first Asian to join the growing global network of
Skoll social entrepreneurs, now numbering 59, who have
created innovative, proven solutions for tackling the
world’s most urgent social and economic challenges.
The
Skoll Awards will be presented by Skoll Foundation
chairman Jeff Skoll, Skoll Foundation president and
chief executive officer Sally Osberg and special guest,
former United States President Jimmy Carter, at the
fifth annual Skoll World Forum on Social
Entrepreneurship at the University of Oxford in England.
The Skoll World Forum convenes a global community of
outstanding practitioners and thought leaders in social
entrepreneurship to set the future agenda for
visionaries who want to transform society.
As a
child in the
Philippines,
Oebanda helped her family survive by selling fish and
scavenging garbage. As freedom fighters against the
Marcos dictatorship, she and her husband were imprisoned
for four years and separated from their oldest son.
Their two other children were born in detention.
Oebanda
founded VFFI in 1991 to eliminate human trafficking
through public-private partnerships that rescue, protect
and reintegrate victims of trafficking. The organization
has served 18,500 victims and potential victims and has
filed 66 legal cases on behalf of 166 complainants. By
2011, VFFI intends to grow its multisectoral networks
and expand its program against human trafficking.
The 10
other organizations receiving the Skoll Awards for
Social Entrepreneurship and a three-year grant of
$1,000,000 are: Amazon Conservation Team, American
Council on Renewable Energy, Arzu, Digital Divide Data,
Half the Sky Foundation, KIVA, mothers2mothers, Partners
in Health, PeaceWorks Foundation, and the Population and
Community Development Association.
“We know
solutions exist around the world that have transformed
millions of lives, in a sustainable way, across
education, health, environmental and other social
systems,” Osberg said in a statement. “We think the new
Skoll social entrepreneurs represent some of the best,
most innovative, of those solutions, and bring an
exciting new level of energy and creativity to our
portfolio.”
“These
remarkable individuals and their tireless teams are
tackling issues that require our most immediate
attention. And most importantly, the models they have
developed have the potential for vastly increased
impact,” Osberg said. |
