MTV Exit, an organisation that runs an award-winning international campaign through music and entertainment to raise awareness of human trafficking, will host a free live concert at the Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh on December 17.

Organisers expect to attract thousands of young Cambodians to the concert, and other youth-oriented events, to raise awareness about human trafficking and exploitation in the Kingdom.

International and local artists such as Korean girl band After School and American pop band The Click Five will unite forces for the cause by performing on stage.

Local artists who will perform include Preab Sovath, Sok Pisey, Cartoon Emo, Eklectic and the Thmore band.

The concert in Phnom Penh will be the organisation’s 28th free live concert in Asia.

MTV Exit campaign director Matt Love said:  “Our privileged access to international and local celebrities will bring them together in solidarity with the youth in Cambodia to inspire local action toward this global problem [trafficking and exploitation].

As well as the concert, MTV Exit will hold a string of other awareness-raising activities.

A documentary on human trafficking will premiere on the Cambodia Television Network next year. Youth forums and roadshows will also be held in six provinces outside Phnom Penh from the second quarter of 2012. World Vision, in partnership with MTV Exit, will also train at-risk young people in developing social media awareness campaigns using networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

The concert was announced yesterday at an MTV Exit Campaign press conference titled End Exploitation and Trafficking in Cambodia, held at the Hotel Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra.

At the conference Australian ambassador Penny Richards and US Embassy charge d’affaires Jeff Daigle offered the support of their countries to the campaign.

“Human trafficking is happening right here in Cambodia,” Richards told the conference delegates.

“It ruins the lives of its victims and profoundly affects families and communities.

“The campaign, through its free live concert, youth forums and roadshows, is educating young people who are most vulnerable to this crime. I hope  it will capture the attention of the Cambodian public.

“I hope that by raising young people’s awareness of the crime of human trafficking and giving them some useful information, we can protect them and prevent them from becoming victims.”

Jeff Daigle also voiced his support on behalf of the US.

“Within Cambodia, vulnerable men, women and children are bought and sold day by day. Unsuspecting and unwilling victims are forced into prostitution and indentured servitude – nothing less than modern-day slavery,” he said.

“Through the MTV Exit concert and other campaigns, millions of young people – the group most at risk in Asia – will be informed and compelled to act, and the profile of this critical social issue will rise.”