NICARAGUA / ANGIE HARMON

Actress and UNICEF ambassador Angie Harmon recently returned from a visit to Nicaragua, where she travelled to bring attention to the horrors of child trafficking within the Central American country and across the globe. During her trip Harmon witnessed UNICEF programs to protect children from violence, exploitation and abuse and spoke with adolescent girls and boys about their experiences. UNICEF

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:03:24
• Production Date: 1 February 2014
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND - UNICEF
• Subject Topical: FINE ARTS; LITERATURE; MUSIC; TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS
• Geographic Subject: NICARAGUA
• MAMS Id: U140201a

Description

STORY: NICARAGUA / ANGIE HARMON
TRT: 3.24
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: RECENT, BLUEFIELDS / SAN LUCAS, NICARAGUA

Shotlist

RECENT, BLUEFIELDS, NICARAGUA

1. Wide shot, group of youth leaders waiting for UNICEF Ambassador Angie Harmon at the airport holding banner
2. Pan left, Harmon exits airport and greets youth leaders

RECENT, SAN LUCAS, NICARAGUA

3. Med shot, Harmon exits UNICEF vehicle prior to seeing performances by Youth Communicators
4. Harmon visits the border of Nicaragua and Honduras
5. Various shots, Harmon with Youth Communicators and others who had gathered to watch the performances

RECENT, BLUEFIELDS, NICARAGUA

6. Close up,Harmon embraces a child who had attended the performances by peer-to-peer mentors
7. Pan right, peer-to-peer mentor showcases artwork done by adolescents
8. Various shots, Harmon participates in a skit on child protection with adolescents
9. Various shots, Harmon encouraging youth leaders to continue their efforts on behalf of their peers
10. SOUNDUP (English) Angie Harmon, UNICEF Ambassador:
“Every single one of you is extraordinary, and the more you inform the people around you and yopur peers, the more that we can also end problems with human trafficking. It makes feel so wonderful to know that the future of the world looks like this.”
11. Various shots, Harmon tours a garbage dump where women are employed to sort garbage for recycling
12. Various shots, a youth leader takes Angie Harmon to visit a mural about trafficking painted by adolescents
13. Wide shot, Harmon poses in front of a mural on the prevention of gun violence

Storyline

Actress and UNICEF Ambassador Angie Harmon recently returned from a visit to Nicaragua, where she traveled to bring attention to the horrors of child trafficking within the Central American country and across the globe. During her trip Harmon witnessed UNICEF programs to protect children from violence, exploitation and abuse and spoke with adolescent girls and boys about their experiences.

During her trip, Harmon travelled to the Northern town of San Lucas where she witnessed efforts to combat trafficking along the Honduran border and met children and adolescent leaders who demonstrated through skits, dancing, and artwork how they educate their peers.

She also visited with youth mentors, church leaders, and life-skills counselors in Bluefields, a city affected by drug and human trafficking, and participated in a play about issues facing teens in the region. In Granada, the most visited tourist spot in the country, many children beg for food or money in the city center, increasing the risk for them to be sexually exploited and in the worst case, trapped by traffickers.

While there, Harmon met with three adolescent survivors of sexual abuse or exploitation and heard their stories.

Within Nicaragua, children are subjected to sex and labor trafficking, and the country also serves as a source and transit point for trafficking into other Central American nations, Mexico and the United States.

Girls are often recruited in rural areas for work in urban centers and then forced into prostitution. Nicaragua is a destination for tourists from the U.S., Canada and Western Europe, some of whom engage in commercial sexual exploitation of children. In addition, children are forced into working in agriculture, in the informal sector, and in domestic settings in Nicaragua and neighboring countries.

While the full extent of sexual exploitation and child trafficking in Nicaragua is not known, UNICEF is helping the country develop a real-time monitoring system for responses to commercial and sexual exploitation and is completing an analysis to obtain more accurate statistics associated with child trafficking.

UNICEF’s work on this issue in Nicaragua also includes training teachers, adolescents, community and church leaders, among others, to create a protective environment to prevent trafficking in their areas; supporting peer-to-peer mentoring and life-skills workshops for youth to protect themselves from exploitation and abuse; and strengthening the capacities of local networks and institutions to help survivors of sexual violence and their families recover and rebuild their lives.