[1][2] The campaign grew out of the “Roundtable of the Business Community against Human Trafficking”, a meeting held on 23 January 2006 in Athens, Greece,[3] and organized under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The aim was to bring together business leaders and CEOs from the private sector, representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), international organizations, and governments to share their expertise, find a common stance, and develop measures to counter human trafficking.
The meeting was cosponsored by prominent international organizations in the fight against human trafficking: the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the World Bank and the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF).
[4] Notable attendants included Queen Sylvia of Sweden, Queen Sabika of Bahrain, former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble and French composer Jean Michel Jarre.
[6] All signatories declare zero tolerance for dealing with businesses which benefit from human trafficking and promise to The first company to sign up to the principles was Manpower Inc.,[8] whose president of corporate affairs and government affairs is also the president of the board of EHTN.