Visayan Forum

VISAYAN FORUM is a non-profit, non-stock and tax-exempt non-government organization in the Philippines established in 1991. VF works for the welfare of marginalized migrants, especially those working in the invisible and informal sectors. It works in issues of domestic work, child labor and human trafficking especially of women and children.

It is licensed and accredited by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to provide "residential care and community-based programs and services for women and children in especially difficult circumstances."

It is most known for its pioneering and documented work on domestic workers in the Philippines, especially in pushing for the Domestic Workers Bill or the Batas Kasambahay. It is also in the forefront of providing services to trafficking victims by managing Halfway Houses constructed by the Philippine Ports Authority and the Manila International Airport Authority in major Philippine ports.

VF’s work for child domestic workers has been cited by ILO-IPEC and the United Nations Girls Education Initiative (UNGEI) as one of the international best practices. Its anti-trafficking partnership with the Philippine government and private shipping companies was also hailed as one of the international best practices by the U.S. State Department in its 2005 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report. The Anti-Slavery International, the world’s oldest human rights organization, also conferred the 2005 Anti-Slavery award on VF’s President.

VF leads national and international efforts in mobilizing social partners as the:

Philippine and Southeast Asian Secretariat, Global March against Child Labor Convenor, Task Force on Child Domestic Workers in Asia Convenor, Multi-Sectoral Network against Trafficking in Persons (MSNAT) Convenor, Anti-Trafficking Task Forces at the Ports Vice-Chair, Philippine NGO Coalition on the UNCRC Member, ILO Convention 182 National Monitoring Team Member, National Steering Committee of UNICEF’s Sixth Country Program for Children

It has centers all over the Philippines, in the following areas: Metro Manila, Batangas, Bacolod, Davao and Sorsogon

The VF also has existing programs in NCR, Batangas, Sorsogon, Cebu, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Davao, Southern Leyte, Samar, Surigao and Zamboanga.