The Buen Pastor Foundation, Paraguay, in collaboration with the Ministry of the Interior, Conferpar, and other partner organizations, carried out awareness-raising activities — both with 150 volunteers of the Transchaco Rally 2025 and through an Awareness Raising Forum in Caaguazú — to strengthen the prevention, detection, and reporting of cases of human trafficking and child sexual exploitation within the framework of the national project “Prevention, Care, and Reintegration of Girls and Adolescents Affected by Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation in Paraguay”.
On Saturday, October 11, 2025, the Fundación El Buen Pastor, together with the team of the National Program against Human Trafficking of the Ministry of the Interior, carried out an awareness-raising activity for those who would be monitoring the timing during the 50th edition of the Transchaco Rally 2025. The meeting addressed topics related to Human Trafficking and the Sexual Exploitation of Girls, Boys, and Adolescents, and on where to request more information or even report any situation that might be detected.
The meeting’s purpose was to raise awareness about the gravity of this issue, change practices of violence and exploitation that affect the most vulnerable people in our society — mainly girls, boys, and adolescents — and strengthen the capacities of the monitoring teams to prevent, detect, and report possible cases.
This activity is particularly relevant considering that, during large-scale events such as the Chaco Rally, there may be high-risk situations where girls, boys, and adolescents may be victims of various forms of violence, including human trafficking for sexual and labor exploitation. Having volunteer teams from the Touring Club who are trained and committed helps create safer and more protective environments for the most vulnerable people and local communities.
This initiative is carried out within the framework of the project “Prevention, Care, and Reintegration of Girls and Adolescents Affected by Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation in Paraguay,” implemented by the Buen Pastor Foundation Paraguay in collaboration with Proclade Bética, Spain, with financing from the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), and in alliance with the “National Program for the Prevention, Combat, and Care for Victims of Human Trafficking,” under the Ministry of the Interior of Paraguay.
In addition, on September 25, 2025, the Awareness Raising Forum on Human Trafficking was held in the department of Caaguazú, organized by the Buen Pastor Foundation and the Anti-Trafficking Team of the Conference of Religious of Paraguay.
The meeting was conducted by social communicator Carlos Goncalvez, with the initial presentation by investigative journalist Andrés Colmán Gutiérrez and, afterward, with the interventions of Dr. Teresa Martínez (Director of the National Program against Human Trafficking – Ministry of the Interior) and lawyer María José Durán, specialist in Human Rights.
More than 150 people from 14 municipalities of the department participated actively in the event, which concluded with a group reflection where the communities shared proposals and suggestions about the prevention and detection of cases of violence and human trafficking, emphasizing the need to strengthen awareness and access to information in all areas of society.
Social, educational, and community leaders were present at the event, reaffirming the collective commitment to building a Paraguay free of trafficking and exploitation.
From everyone at the Buen Pastor Foundation, we reaffirm our commitment to working together with communities, organizations, and authorities to build safe environments, especially for girls, boys, adolescents, and women in vulnerable situations.
We work to “empower lives, restore rights, and defend the dignity of all people.''
Learn more about the Good Shepherd mission in Paraguay at www.buenpastor.org.py
