APD Foundation Presents its Field Insights from Mangaluru at UN Meet on Human Trafficking
Mangaluru: Mangaluru-based Anti Pollution Drive Foundation (APDF) brought its grassroots experience to the global stage as its Founder & CEO, Abdullah A. Rehman participated in the United Nations High-Level Meeting on the Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons held on November 24–25 at the UN Headquarters, New York. 
Mr. Rehman attended the opening session and several side events as an accredited civil society delegate, joining UN agencies, Member States, and experts in discussions on strengthening prevention, protection, and multi-sector responses to human trafficking.
A written submission from APD Foundation, conceptualised by Mr. Rehman, was included in the official UN documentation circulated during the meeting. The paper offers a unique perspective linking environmental degradation, gaps in public health, and weak urban infrastructure to increased vulnerability among city populations.
Drawing from APD’s long-standing work with waste pickers in Mangaluru, the submission emphasises that restoring occupational dignity is a crucial step in protecting people from exploitation. It explains how polluted air weakens outdoor workers over time and pushes them into economic insecurity, how lack of sanitation affects safety and dignity, especially for women and children, and how inadequate public transport forces people into unsafe routes and unregulated travel networks.
These conditions, the document notes, create subtle “entry points” that traffickers and exploiters often use—not always through force, but through the vulnerabilities created by failing systems. “Trafficking does not begin with criminals — it begins with the breakdown of dignity. When a city’s basic systems fail, people become exposed. Improving air quality, sanitation, and mobility is not just environmental work; it is a human protection strategy,” Rehman observed.
The UN meeting underscored that trafficking must be prevented before exploitation occurs, through stronger social services, worker protection, healthcare access, safe migration pathways, and resilient communities.
During the two-day event, Rehman also held discussions with representatives of several Permanent Missions and diplomatic delegations, sharing the APD Foundation’s field evidence on how environmental neglect contributes to the risks faced by informal workers and mobility-dependent communities. “It was a joy to take Mangaluru’s experience to a global platform,” he said.
The APD Foundation’s participation reflects a growing global understanding that environmental health and human rights are inextricably linked, and that preventing trafficking requires not only law enforcement but also robust public systems that uphold dignity and opportunity for all.