New Delhi, Dec 27 :    New Delhi, Dec 27:  There were no government representatives at this Saarc conference: only activists and non-government organisations from five countries - India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh. The second conference of the Saarc Peoples Forum met in Kathmandu to discuss an issue of growing importance in the region: food security and trafficking in women and children. The future of Saarc seemed uncertain following an indefinite postponement of its summit originally scheduled to have been held two months ago in Nepal, which hosted the People's Forum conference. 'We do not know what is the future of Saarc,' said the speakers. But they were determined to keep this forum of people-to-people contact alive. The governments are sparring but the people are ready to share their experiences and shake hands. Their main concern is to rein in unbridled globalisation that they believe is eroding people's livelihood, driving the marginalised across the borders of one nation to another. The People's Forum has asked its governments to see the 'critical connection' between food security and trafficking in women and children and ensure food security to lessen the vulnerability of women and children. Though the People's Forum is yet to gather data on the link between globalisation and an increase in trafficking, the grassroots participants said there could be no doubt of a correspondence between the two. According to Ubinig, an NGO in Bangladesh, it is not just prostitution that fuels and sustains trafficking. 'The use to which the trafficked persons are put depends on the exploitative global trading system and its supply and demand trends,' said the Ubinig. The speakers said the lure of profit could lie in the sale to brothels, adoption homes, camel jockeys, forced marriage and domestic and bonded labour. But this, they insisted, must not be used to restrict the mobility of women. The governments of Nepal and Bangladesh recently barred women from seeking employment abroad. Hard-hitting statistics were revealed at the Saarc People's Forum. In the last 10 years, more than 20,00,000 women were illegally transported. An average of 45,000 women and children are smuggled to Pakistan every year. 'The traffickers are using India and Pakistan as their route to the UAE and other countries,' said the Ubinig. The spiralling graph of trafficking has made governments sit up, but there are no easy solutions with the marginalised and the poor thrown on the sidelines of the economy. 'Why did the governments put off the Saarc meeting? They must cooperate on these issues,' asked Farida Akhter of the Ubinig. Natasha from Bangladesh had carried out a study on the status of Bangladeshis and Nepalis in India which showed that most of the women were sold to brothels while others worked as domestic help or rag pickers. The last conference of the People's Forum was held in Colombo two years ago. 'Our main objective is to foster close cooperation among the countries so that we can make a difference to the lives of the people,' said the organisers.