Note to Correspondents

UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO FOCUS ON INTERNATIONAL EFFORTS

TO COMBAT HUMAN TRAFFICKING AT HEADQUARTERS 3 JUNE

 

With some 2.5 million people throughout the world estimated to be victims of human trafficking, the United Nations General Assembly will hold a special debate in New York on 3 June to focus global attention on the scale of the problem and to promote international partnerships to combat it.

The General Assembly Debate on Human Trafficking will make proposals to improve cooperation and coordination on combating trafficking in persons, concentrating on the three pillars –- prevention of the crime, protection of the victims and prosecution of the traffickers –- set forth in the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.

“Human trafficking affects almost every region of the world and combating it requires truly innovative and cooperative approaches,” says President of the General Assembly, Srgjan Kerim.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the “global epidemic” of human trafficking includes some 127 countries as sources of trafficked persons and 137 nations as destinations for those trafficked.  A recent global report on forced labour by the International Labour Organization suggested that the illicit profits realized per year from trafficked forced labourers –- $32 billion –- are far greater than has so far been understood.

“We all have a role to play in fighting this crime,” says Mr. Kerim.  “Not only Member States, the United Nations and other international organizations, but also the private sector and civil society, the media and law enforcement bodies.”

The Debate, according to Mr. Kerim, will provide an opportunity to promote partnerships and to consider the approach the United Nations system might take to most effectively address human trafficking.  It follows a Forum in Vienna organized by the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT) earlier this year.

Two interactive panel discussions, “Enhancing multilateral cooperation to prevent trafficking in persons” and “Protecting victims of trafficking and cross-border cooperation in prosecuting traffickers in persons”, will look at issues such as demand for trafficked persons, the value of private sector codes of conduct and cross-border cooperation for effective prosecution of traffickers, among others.

Keynote speeches will be given by Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, United Arab Emirates, and actress and philanthropist Ashley Judd.  Opening remarks will be delivered by the President of the General Assembly and Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro.  Moderators of the morning and the afternoon panels will be, respectively, Antonio Maria-Costa, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Executive Director, and Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, Deputy Secretary-General of the Council of Europe.

Panellists include representatives from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, United States State Department Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, MTV Foundation Europe, the Carlson Companies, International Labour Organization, International Organization for Migration (IOM) as well as representatives of Member States.

A press briefing with General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim, Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, United Arab Emirates, and actress and philanthropist Ashley Judd will take place at 11 a.m. in Room S-226.

A press briefing on the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking with UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria-Costa, Deputy Director-General of IOM Ndioro Ndiaye and Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kyung-wha Kang will take place at 1 p.m. in Room S-226.

The event will be webcast live at www.un.org/webcast.

For further information on the General Assembly Debate on Human Trafficking, including the full programme, please see www.un.org/ga/president/62/ThematicDebates/humantrafficking.shtml; or contact Janos Tisovszky, Spokesperson for the General Assembly President, tel.:  +1 917 367 2068, e-mail:  tisovszky@un.org or Melita Gabric, tel.:  +1 212 963 1231, e-mail : gabric@un.org.

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For information media • not an official record