30 October 2015 - The Philippine Embassy in Paris organized a forum on October 25 for the Filipino community in Paris focusing on gender and development, rights of women and children, human trafficking and migration. Around 60 Filipinos participated in the event.

During the event, officials from the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO), briefed the community on migration issues, CFO’s BaLinkBayan program, one-stop portal for Diaspora engagement, and financial literacy program as part of CFO’s “Ugnayan sa Europa: Engagement, Empowerment, and Enterprise.”

The resource persons also included the founders and President of French NGOs, CAMELEON Association and SOS Esclaves. Founded in 1997, CAMELEON is a solidarity association helping abused and disadvantaged children in several countries, including those in the Philippines. SOS Esclaves is an association which provides legal, moral and social support to victims of human trafficking, particularly modern-day slavery and assist victims in filing cases, obtaining French temporary residence permits and work permits.

The speakers introduced their associations and advocacy programs to the Filipino community. END