COMBATING HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN ASIA -- UNESCAP LAUNCHES RESOURCE GUIDE

COMBATING HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN ASIA -- UNESCAP LAUNCHES RESOURCE GUIDE

BANGKOK, 15 December (United Nations Information Service) -- A resource guide to combating human trafficking in Asia will be launched by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) on Friday, 19 December 2003, at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok.

Participants of note include Kim Hak-Su, UNESCAP Executive Secretary, Mohamed Naseer, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Irena Vojackova-Sollorano, International Office of Migration, and Professor Vitit Muntabhorn, Faculty of Law, Chulalongkorn University.

The publication, entitled Combating Human Trafficking in Asia:  A Resource Guide to International and Regional Legal Instruments, Political Commitments and Recommendations, provides a comprehensive framework for using legal and other instruments to combat trafficking in persons, especially women and children.

It portrays trafficking as a multidimensional problem involving various forms of exploitation, including those involving human rights, slavery and slavery-like practices, trafficking, migration, labour, and gender.  The Resource Guide calls for a multifaceted response to trafficking utilizing the complete range of legal and other instruments relevant to all dimensions of trafficking.

The publication is part of UNESCAP's ongoing efforts to raise awareness of the range of legal instruments available to governments to fight human trafficking.

It was spawned at a regional seminar on legal instruments organized jointly by UNESCAP and the International Organization for Migration in August 2001.  The Seminar served as a forum for sharing national, bilateral and subregional experiences in combating trafficking and aimed to incorporate lessons learned into national policy.  The Resource Guide was field-tested at subregional seminars held in South-East Asia, South Asia and Central Asia in 2002.

Note to Editors:  You or your representatives are invited to attend the launch of the Resource Guide on Friday, 19 December 2003, from 0915-1015 hrs in the Theatre of the United Nations Conference Centre.

For further information, please contact United Nations Information Services Bangkok, tel:  (66) 02 288 1864-9, fax:  (66) 02 288 1052, e-mail:  unisbkk.unescap@un.org.

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