Press Release

Impulse NGO Network Launches Impulse Model Press Lab to Combat Cross-border Human Trafficking

Shillong, India – 26th January 2018: Impulse NGO Network (INGON) has launched the Impulse Model Press Lab, to engage the Media, to counter human trafficking in and between the borders of India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Nepal.

The Impulse Model Press Lab will train journalists from the neighbouring countries to improve media coverage of human trafficking, and bring informed, impactful reports to the public.

The project, evolved out of recognition of the Media’s important role in driving information on the complex issue, aims to bridge the gap between journalistic training and sensitisation to human trafficking.

INGON will partner with international media in the process to implement the Impulse Model Press Lab, building upon its collaborative relationships with the BBC, Thompson Reuters Foundation, France 2 and CNN News 18 and Sikkim Express.

The Impulse Model Press Lab will run a One-Year Fellowship Program for early-career journalists from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Myanmar, who will receive training and mentorship to enhance their skills and understanding of human trafficking and become sensitised to the experiences of victims and survivors. The fellowship will focus on trends driving increasing rates of human trafficking across the porous border countries – an issue that mars region.

The project will also include a Four-Week Fellowship for mid-career journalists from each country to conduct major in-depth reports on cross-border human trafficking in the neighbouring States.

An important feature of this initiative is that digital and social media will be harnessed to increase public understanding of the complex landscape of human trafficking, while training journalists to accurately and sensitively report on the issue, and to uphold the privacy and dignity of victims and survivors.

A cross-functional team of Core Committee Members drawn from various fields that include journalists, gender specialists, psychologists, legal experts, and country advisors to the Impulse NGO Network, will lead the three-year project. The team recently convened for the first consultation on the Impulse Model Press Lab in Kathmandu, Nepal on the 11th & 12th of January 2018.

The Impulse Model Press Lab builds upon INGON’s human trafficking prevention activities under the ‘Press Pillar’ of the Impulse Model, which trains journalists to report on human trafficking through a victim/survivor-based approach, and works with media partners to initiate awareness campaigns to galvanize policy actions.

The Impulse Model is a well-known, holistic method to address human trafficking. On the basis of the Impulse Model, key stakeholders from the public and private sectors work in collaboration to combat human trafficking.

Karma Paljor, at the Impulse Model Press Lab Consultation

Karma Paljor, at the Impulse Model Press Lab Consultation

Karma Paljor, Consulting Editor, CNN News18, and Core Committee Team Leader of the Impulse Model Press Lab, says that the project is an important step towards ensuring robust reporting of human trafficking. “The media is a powerful tool, but in the race to be first in reporting stories, in-depth journalism has suffered. In human trafficking especially, only one aspect gets reported. It’s only when a criminal network is uncovered or when victims are rescued that cameras and reporters descend on the scene. We want to get the basics back and see that all issues are given equal weightage. It’s also important to sensitise the journalists and have specialists who understand the nature of what they are reporting on.”

INGON aims to harness results from the Impulse Model Press Lab to bolster the accountability of governments’ anti-trafficking measures in the region, and collaborative efforts to prevent cross-border human trafficking.

An evaluation of the project will be conducted to assess the goals and outcomes at the end of its first year. The evaluation, involving all participants in the project activities, will be central to identifying key strengths and areas for improvement and deciding the future roadmap of the lab.

About Impulse NGO Network: Impulse NGO Network (INGON) is a non-profit organisation founded in 1993 by Hasina Kharbhih, to address the issue of unsafe migration, exploitation, and human trafficking. Today, Impulse NGO Network’s efforts against human trafficking expand across the eight states of North-East India, and to countries that India shares borders with, such as Nepal, Myanmar, and Bangladesh.

Over the past 20 years, the Impulse NGO Network has helped reintegrate into society over seventy thousand survivors of human trafficking and exploitation.

About The Impulse Model: The Impulse Model is acknowledged globally, as one of the most effective ways of reducing the demand and supply of humans for trafficking and exploitation. It takes a holistic approach to the problem of trafficking in persons, without missing out on the tiniest socio-economic reasons that feed the demand and supply of human beings for exploitation and trade.

For more information, please visit the Impulse Model Press Lab page here, write to Tatum Street, Project Manager, Impulse Model Press Lab at this email address.

You can also write to us at Impulse NGO Network, using the contact form here.