26 February 2019 - The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) expressed its full support for the elaboration of a new General Recommendation on trafficking in women and girls in the context of global migration during a discussion on 22 February, held in the context of the 72 nd Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in Geneva from 18 February to 8 March.
In a keynote speech at the meeting, the Director of UNODC's Division for Treaty Affairs John Brandolino outlined a number of key points to consider for the General Recommendation. He acknowledged that many States have considerably strengthened their efforts to prevent and prosecute trafficking in persons, and to identify, protect and assist female victims.
However, he also pointed out that areas with weak rule of law still provide ideal circumstances for traffickers and much more remains to be done to identify and protect women and children en route who are at risk of sexual exploitation and trafficking.
"We hope that the General Recommendation on trafficking of women and girls in the context of global migration will assist States in providing a holistic, multidisciplinary approach to counter trafficking in persons in a human rights-based, gender and age-responsive way," he said.
The aim of the General Recommendation will be to provide guidance to States parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women on the measures they should adopt to ensure full compliance with their obligations to respect, protect and fulfil women's human rights in the context of trafficking and global migration.
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) appreciated the involvement of UNODC as a keynote speaker and partner in the development of the General Recommendation and reemphasised the need for international cooperation. This was reflected by keynote speakers from OHCHR, UNODC, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) as well as numerous interventions from Member States, international organizations and Non-Governmental Organizations.
The UNODC recommendations are based on the vast experience of UNODC in supporting Member States to address organized crime, including trafficking in persons and the smuggling of migrants as well as the UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons with its specifically relevant focus on trafficking in persons in the context of armed conflict.
Keynote Speech of John Brandolino, Director of UNODC's Division for Treaty Affairs
UNODC on trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants
United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
2018 UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Person
For the latest about UNODC's work on Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling, follow @UNODC and @UNODC_HTMSS.
