June 15, 2022
Cairo – On June 14, U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Nicole Shampaine presented Reda Shoukry, director of the Al-Shehab Institute for Promotion and Comprehensive Development (Al-Shehab), with a Trafficking in Persons Hero Award for her work in providing legal aid, social services, psychological support, and vocational training to over 800 victims of human trafficking each year.
Underscoring the significance of Ms. Shoukry and Al-Shehab’s work to combat human trafficking in Egypt, Chargé d’Affaires Shampaine stated, “Ms. Shoukry has dedicated her life and career to preventing and assisting victims of human trafficking in Egypt. Since founding Al-Shehab in 2002, she has helped more than 15,000 women and girls avoid or recover from the impacts of human trafficking. We applaud her tireless focus and dedication to making a lasting impact on this issue of such local and global significance.”
The U.S. Government, through the Department of State, has worked to eliminate human trafficking in Egypt, most recently through the $1.5 million “Combatting Human Trafficking in Egypt” program. Implemented by the International Labour Organization (ILO), the program will help identify and protect victims of human trafficking. It will also build on the work of Egypt’s National Coordinating Committee for Combating and Preventing Illegal Migration and Trafficking in Persons, which has raised awareness, built shelters, and increased the capacity of hotlines to report human trafficking.
Since 2004, the U.S. Department of State has recognized heroes from around the world who have devoted their lives to the fight against human trafficking. Ms. Shoukry was one of just nine global recipients to receive the TIP Hero Award in 2020 when recipients were not able to travel to the United States to receive the award from the U.S. Secretary of State due to COVID-19.
To learn more about the TIP Report Hero Award visit: http://www.tipheroes.org and @JTIP_State on Facebook and Twitter. Also follow the Embassy at www.usembassy.gov and @USEmbassyCairo on social media.
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