United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

Brasilia, 24 July 2023 – Blue Heart Week, commemorated from July 24 to 30, is a United Nations international campaign to raise awareness on human trafficking. In this context, on 24 August, UNODC and the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP) promoted a training event on Human Trafficking and International Cooperation, in Brasilia, including the participation of more than 30 representatives of state and federal government institutions.

The event took place within the scope of the Track4Tip initiative and aimed to disseminate the “Information Booklet on the National System to Combat Human Trafficking and International Cooperation”, launched in September 2022. In addition to UNODC, representatives of the General Coordination for Combating Human Trafficking and the Department of Asset Recovery and International Cooperation, both from MJSP, as well as the Federal Police, presented training modules that addressed topics such as the Brazilian network for combating and assisting victims of human trafficking, international legal cooperation in criminal matters in cases of human trafficking, and financial analysis as a tool to repress transnational organized crime.

UNODC Brazil officers presented the role of the office in its normative work and performance in technical cooperation and creation of dialogue around the issue of human trafficking and migrant smuggling. In addition, data and trends on trafficking in persons were presented, including through the recently released Global Trafficking in Persons Report 2022 and data analysis carried out by the Track4TIP Initiative.

The general coordinator for Combating Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling (MJSP), Marina Bernardes, addressed the Government's efforts in the area of assistance to victims of human trafficking and presented the National Policy for Combating Human Trafficking and the three axes on which the policy is based, such as prevention and public awareness, care for victims and repression and accountability, highlighting the importance of reports produced by UNODC for the creation of well-targeted policies.

The theme of international cooperation was addressed by the general coordinator of International Legal Cooperation in Criminal Matters, André Zaca Furquim, who presented the principles and procedures of international legal cooperation.

In addition, the Federal Police deputy, Leonardo Reis Guimarães, presented the practices and main challenges faced by the institution regarding human trafficking.

Lastly, the training addressed how combating human trafficking can benefit from the use of financial analysis as an investigative technique, through a presentation made by Carlos Renato Xavier de Resende, coordinator of the National Network of Laboratories against Money Laundering.

Track4TIP is an initiative implemented by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and supported by the United States Department of State Office for Monitoring and Combating Human Trafficking/JTIP.

The project, which started in 2019 and runs until March 2024, benefits eight countries across South America and the Caribbean with actions at the national and regional level among Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Panama, and Aruba.

The objective of the project is to enhance the regional criminal justice response to human trafficking among migratory flows within the beneficiary countries following a victim-centered and multidisciplinary approach working at the regional and local levels to identify, prevent and prosecute cases.

This press release was made possible thanks to the support of the US Department of State pursuant to Settlement #SSJTIP19CA0027. The views expressed therein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the US Department of State.