Multi Grammy Award-Winning Artist Jason Mraz to Perform at Historic MTV Exit Concert in Yangon, Myanmar to Raise Awareness of Human Trafficking

Yangon, Myanmar (ots/PRNewswire) -

First ever international concert to be held in Myanmar in
front of iconic

Shwedagon pagoda on December 16

Concert to air in more than a half-billion homes as a
special edition of

"MTV World Stage"

MTV EXIT (End Exploitation and Trafficking) today announces a
historic live concert in Myanmar to be held on December 16th to raise
awareness and increase prevention of human trafficking. The free live
concert will be held at the Yangon People's Square, which lies at the
base of the magnificent 2600 year-old Shwedagon Pagoda, one of the
most iconic and auspicious sites in the country.

Multi GRAMMY award-winning singer songwriter Jason Mraz will
headline the event becoming the first international artist ever to
perform at an open-air concert in Myanmar. Also performing are
Myanmar's top artists including Phyu Phyu Kyaw Thein and R Zarni.
Sharing the stage at the free concert will be speakers from the
anti-trafficking sector, government and donor community who work to
fight human trafficking in Myanmar.

In addition, MTV EXIT today launches a contest giving fans a
chance to win a trip to see Jason Mraz live in Myanmar. Contest
details are at http://www.mtvexit.org.

MTV EXIT Live in Myanmar will be broadcast in Myanmar on national
television and will air across MTV's international network in early
2013 as a special edition of "MTV World Stage," MTV's weekly live
music series. Available in more than a half-billion homes, the
program will feature performances, interviews and key educational
information about human trafficking.

The event is funded by the Australian Government's Agency for
International Development (AusAID), the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID) and Walk Free, a global movement to
end modern-day slavery; and produced in partnership with the
Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the United
Nations Inter-Agency Project Against Human Trafficking (UNIAP) and
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Jason Mraz has taken his musical journey from coffee houses to
stadiums globally and now has two GRAMMY awards and six GRAMMY
nominations to his credit. In 2008, his third album, We Sing We Dance
We Steal Things, featured the hit "I'm Yours," which sold more than
21 million units worldwide and the GRAMMY-winning songs "Make It
Mine" and "Lucky." Most recently, Mraz released Love Is A Four Letter
Word, which features the chart-topping song, "I Won't Give Up." Mraz
has been a longtime advocate against human trafficking, engaging with
anti-trafficking organizations in Ghana and The Philippines. The
Californian singer last performed to capacity crowds in Asia in June
2012 as part of the Tour Is A Four Letter Word world tour.

Human trafficking is a tragic crime that enslaves and exploits
its victims, the majority of which are women and children. There are
more than 20 million people living in slavery around the world with
Myanmar and Southeast Asia particularly affected. The concert forms
part of a wider initiative that seeks to educate and train youth
through innovative television programming, digital content, capacity
building workshops and community-based events. MTV EXIT Live in
Myanmar follows the production of two Myanmar MTV EXIT documentaries
on human trafficking, which were broadcast in 2010 and 2012 on
national television to educate the public about the dangers of
trafficking.

MTV EXIT is also proud to partner with Edelman, the world's
largest public relations firm. Further details on the concert
including how to obtain free tickets will be released soon. For more
information, visit http://www.mtvexit.org or follow MTV EXIT on the
following social media platforms: Twitter @mtvexit and Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/mtvexit.

More Information:

MTV EXIT

The MTV EXIT (End Exploitation and Trafficking) campaign is an
award-winning multimedia initiative to raise awareness and increase
prevention of human trafficking and exploitation. MTV EXIT was
launched in Europe in 2004 and expanded across Asia with USAID in
2007. To date MTV EXIT has produced an extensive catalogue of
powerful TV programming to promote awareness about human trafficking.
MTV documentaries include Sold: An MTV EXIT Special presented by Lara
Dutta; Traffic: An MTV EXIT Special, presented by Lucy Liu; and
Inhuman Traffic, presented by Angelina Jolie; each of which have been
translated into a dozen local language versions presented by Asian
celebrities such as Rain of Korea and Phyu Phyu Kyaw Thein and R
Zarni in Myanmar. Further MTV EXIT programming also includes short
films, public service announcements, animated drama and music videos.
MTV EXIT and Radiohead collaborated on an anti-exploitation video for
their song All I Need, which premiered across MTV's global network
with similar collaborations with The Killers, MUSE, The Click Five,
etc. MTV EXIT has also established partnerships with over 100
non-governmental organizations, distributed hundreds of thousands of
anti-trafficking brochures in over 25 languages, and reached out to
millions of young people through anti-trafficking messages at
concerts and music festivals featuring R.E.M., Radiohead, The White
Stripes, The Hives, Thievery Corporation, Placebo, Jason Mraz and
hundreds of other international and local artists. For more
information visit http://www.mtvexit.org

USAID

USAID, the United States Agency for International Development, is
an independent U.S. Government agency that operates under the
foreign-policy direction of the U.S. Secretary of State. Since 1961,
USAID has been the principal U.S. Government agency extending
assistance to countries worldwide recovering from disaster, trying to
escape poverty, and engaging in democratic reforms. USAID's Regional
Development Mission for Asia, based in Bangkok, oversees a broad
portfolio of regional and transnational programs, and also provides
support to several USAID bilateral missions in Asia as well as
manages programs in countries in which it does not have a permanent
presence. Its regional approach addresses problems that cross
national boundaries, such as human and wildlife trafficking,
HIV/AIDS, natural resources conservation, trade, and political and
economic conflict. Please see http://www.usaid.gov for more
information.

AusAID

AusAID is the Australian Agency for International Development.
Australia's development assistance is guided by the Millennium
Development Goals, the internationally agreed targets for poverty
reduction, and by the Australian aid program's objective to assist
developing nations to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable
development. Australia works with NGOs, multilateral institutions and
volunteers, as well as directly with national governments.
Australia's support to the MTV EXIT Campaign complements other
anti-trafficking work AusAID is undertaking in the region. These
projects include the Asia Regional Trafficking in Persons (ARTIP)
Project, which aims to strengthen the capacity of criminal justice
agencies in South East Asia to respond to human trafficking; Project
TRIANGLE, which works with governments in the region to improve the
living and working conditions of migrants; and Project Childhood,
which seeks to better protect children from child sex tourism and
improve government systems to put the perpetrators of this crime
behind bars. See http://www.ausaid.gov.au for more information.

Walk Free

Walk Free is a new movement of people everywhere working together
to end one of the world's greatest evils: modern slavery. As we build
our community across the world with the powerful tools of new
technologies and social media, we will seek change at local, national
and global levels. Walk Free's aim is to mobilise citizens,
governments, businesses and communities to take action - so that
slavery in all its forms is brought to an end, and people everywhere
can walk free. http://www.walkfree.org

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was
established on 8 August 1967. The Member States of the Association
are Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia,
Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The ASEAN
Secretariat is based in Jakarta, Indonesia. General information on
ASEAN appears on-line at the ASEAN Website: http://www.asean.org.

Human Trafficking

Human Trafficking is defined by the United Nations as "the
recruitment, transportation, and receipt of a person for sexual or
economical exploitation by force, fraud, coercion, or deception" in
order to make a profit. It is a form of modern-day slavery with the
UN estimating that there are more than 20 million people living in
slavery around the world, with the majority of these victims in Asia
and the Pacific. It is the second-largest illegal trade after drugs,
with criminal traffickers earning over US$10 billion every year
through the buying and selling of human beings. Often, victims are
young men and women - the MTV demographic - who are guilty only of
wanting a better life.

ots Originaltext: MTV EXIT
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
For more media information, contact: Bonnye Hart, MTV EXIT |
Email: bonnye.hart@mtvexit.org | Thai Number: +66-2-261-7866 ; Fearne
(Wanwipa Wilawan), MTV EXIT | Email: wanwipa.wilawan@mtvexit.org /
media@mtvexit.org | Thai Number: +66-89799-9442