From the shadows of human trafficking to an advocate: Itohan Okundaye’s story
Meeting
- Date:
- Location:
- Belweder Landing, outside the Belweder Room, Sofitel Hotel, Warsaw
- Organized by:
- OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR)
- Source:
- OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
- Fields of work:
- Human rights, Combating trafficking in human beings
About the event
As part of the 2026 Warsaw Human Dimension Conference, ODIHR presents a photo exhibition tracing Itohan Okundaye’s journey from survivor of human trafficking to activist and survivor leader, through the lens of documentary photographer Anna Kuokkanen.
Through photographs and personal testimony, the exhibition explores both Okundaye’s story and the wider realities surrounding human trafficking, including its structural causes, the asylum system and the opportunities people need to rebuild their lives.
Okundaye has been a member of ODIHR’s International Survivors of Trafficking Advisory Council (ISTAC) since 2021. Established to bring survivors’ voices and lived experience into anti-trafficking laws, policies and practices across the OSCE region, the Council helps ensure that responses draw on the expertise of those directly affected.
The exhibition invites visitors to reflect on why survivors’ knowledge and leadership should be at the heart of efforts to prevent human trafficking and support those who have experienced it.
Speakers
- Tea Jaliashvili, First Deputy Director, ODIHR
- Anna Kuokkanen, Documentary Photographer
Participation and contact
The exhibition is open to all registered 2026 Warsaw Human Dimension Conference participants from 12 to 15 October.
The opening will take place on Monday, 12 October, from 13:00 to 13:30. Light refreshments will be available.
For questions about this side event, please write to Alessia Vedano, ODIHR Adviser on Anti-trafficking Issues, at Alessia.Vedano@odihr.pl.
Contact
