Radiohead, one of the world's top bands, has joined the MTV EXIT (End Exploitation and Trafficking) campaign, a partnership between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and MTV to raise awareness about human trafficking. The collaboration takes the Asia MTV EXIT campaign to a global audience, reaching as many as 560 million households worldwide.
"Radiohead is taking MTV EXIT to a new level and expanding the Asia campaign, which is on air, online and on the ground," said Olivier Carduner, USAID's Regional Mission Director for Asia.
As part of this effort, Radiohead is releasing a music video on MTV tomorrow (May 1) to the track All I Need, from its album In Rainbows. Filmed by Oscar-winning cinematographer John Seale ("The English Patient") and award-winning director Steve Rogers, the video depicts a day in the life of both an affluent youngster and a child making shoes in a sweatshop, sending a message that everyone plays a role in trafficking and exploitation.
Radiohead is also inviting anti-trafficking organizations to distribute information about human trafficking at their upcoming concert tour through North America, Europe and Asia. "It is cool that MTV is taking on this issue. The video is a powerful piece, and I hope that the emotion of the song will jump out at people in the context of these images of exploitation," said Radiohead's Thom Yorke.
MTV is looking for innovative ways to present important issues such as human trafficking to its audience, said Bill Roedy, Vice Chairman MTV Networks. "Trafficking is a crime that violates the basic rights of its victims: the rights to freedom, equality, and dignity."
The USAID Regional Development Mission in Asia is working with MTV to raise awareness about the causes and consequences of human trafficking in the region. USAID-funded documentaries Traffic and Sold have been broadcast throughout Asia, are posted on the MTV EXIT website (www.mtvexit.org), and are distributed rights-free in DVD format. Plans to take the campaign to rural and urban areas in Asia are underway.
USAID is funding the production of the MTV EXIT films for Asia. Top Asian pop and film stars, including Lucy Liu ("Charlie's Angels," "Ally McBeal"), Rain of South Korea, Tata Young of Thailand, Lara Dutta of India, Christian Bautista of the Philippines and Kris Dayanti of Indonesia have volunteered to narrate the films in their native languages and in English.
The campaign capitalizes on their images and MTV's brand appeal, transforming people's views about trafficking and exploitation and provides a platform for NGOs, governments and law enforcement agencies to prevent trafficking and assist victims.
MTV EXIT television programming is produced rights-free and is free of charge for all broadcasters and organizations. The programming is also available to be streamed and downloaded from http://www.mtvexit.org.
For more information on USAID and its programs to combat human trafficking around the world, visit http://www.usaid.gov.
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