Preventing Human Trafficking in Asia: Chong-Moon Lee and Sapana Pradhan Malla


For more than a decade, The Asia Foundation has been leading the fight against human trafficking. We partner with more than 60 local organizations, in 10 countries, reaching hundreds of thousands of people across Asia. Fighting alongside The Asia Foundation are people like Chong-Moon Lee and Sapana Pradhan Malla. Mr. Lee, a prominent Asian-American philanthropist and entrepreneur, recently funded an anti-trafficking pilot program in South East Asia through The Asia Foundation, which will implement a public awareness campaign to educate women and girls about trafficking and provide vocational training scholarships to victims and women and girls who are at risk of trafficking. The Honorable Sapana Pradhan Malla, a long-time Asia Foundation partner, is a lawyer, advocate of Nepal’s Supreme Court, and a leading women’s rights activist. She is also a former member of the Nepalese Constituent Assembly and was the driving force behind the passage of the Human Trafficking Act, which has become a model for the region. This year, The Asia Foundation’s Lotus Circle will be honoring these two individuals for their tireless work to end human trafficking.