- View the music video "Back to Love" -
Her
commitment to fight human trafficking began long before she was officially
appointed as a Goodwill Envoy for the International Organization for
Migration in August 2008.
Back in 2007, she lent her talent and energy to the filming of a counter-trafficking video clip, which was successfully broadcast on several Russian TV channels, ensuring thereby that IOM's preventive message reached millions of potentially vulnerable young people throughout the Federation and beyond.
A few months later, Valeriya approached IOM to visit a rehabilitation centre for victims of trafficking in Moscow. There, she spent hours listening to and empathizing with traumatized victims of trafficking.
This experience only deepened her commitment to work with IOM in the global fight to end human trafficking in all its forms.
She subsequently took part in many roundtables, press conferences and public debates with the same fervor to speak out on behalf of all those silent victims of human trafficking.
In February 2008 in Vienna, Valeriya joined other world celebrities such as Grammy award-winning singer Ricky Martin and Oscar-winning actress Emma Thomson to lend her name to IOM's efforts to support the "End Now" global campaign against trafficking.
Valeriya with IOM's Jean-Philippe Chauzy at a press conference in London.
In August 2008, in recognition of her commitment, she was appointed as IOM's Goodwill Envoy to fight human trafficking in the Russian Federation.
Valeriya is the first Russian celebrity to dedicate her time and international fame to raise awareness of the plight of victims of trafficking. The sale of her latest album (250,000 CDs to date) has been an effective vehicle for the dissemination of counter-trafficking messages.
"I have now decided that all proceeds of my new single should go to the important cause of eliminating human trafficking across the world, led by the International Organization for Migration. I hope my music and work highlight the counter-trafficking cause with my profits now also to benefit the work of the IOM."
Thanks to her talent, dedication and generosity, IOM will now be able to help many more victims of trafficking in the Russian Federation find their way back to life.
To find out more about Valeriya, please go to http://www.valeriya.co.uk/.
For more information on IOM's counter-trafficking work in the Russian Federation, please visit http://www.no2slavery.ru/ or contact:
Alberto Andreani
IOM Moscow
Tel: +7.495 797 8722
Email: aandreani@iom.int
