The Government of Nigeria, jointly with UNODC and the European Union, has launched a nationwide three-year anti-human trafficking campaign. Entitled "I am Priceless", the campaign is aimed at raising awareness of the reality, dangers and possible impact of irregular migration, as a consequence of either being smuggled or being a victim of trafficking in persons. UNODC also appointed two Nigerian celebrities, Joke Silva and Jude Abaga, as Goodwill Ambassadors to spearhead activities connected with the campaign, particularly among the young and vulnerable.
UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov attended a preview screening of
Trade of Innocents, a film that exposes the grim reality of children trafficked for sexual exploitation. The UNODC chief participated at the event in New York with Mira Sorvino, UNODC Goodwill Ambassador against human trafficking, who has a starring role in the film.
On the occasion of World Tourism Day, marked today, UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov highlighted the important role that the tourism industry can play in combating human trafficking for sexual and other exploitation. The World Tourism Organization's
Global Code of Ethics for Tourism calls on governments to combat exploitation through the national legislation of both the countries visited and the countries of the perpetrators of these acts, even when such acts are carried out abroad.
From 22 to 24 September, the annual Social Good Summit is being held in New York. Coinciding with the United Nations General Assembly, which opened this past week, the Social Good Summit is presented by a variety of industry, performing arts and development leaders, bringing together members of the private and public sectors to discuss the role of technology in social advancement.
UNODC officially assumed the chairmanship of the
Global Migration Group (GMG) on 1 July 2012, for a period of six months. The GMG is an inter-agency group bringing together heads of international organizations to promote the wider application of relevant international and regional instruments and norms relating to migration.
L'ONUDC a officiellement assumé la présidence du Groupe mondial sur la migration (GMG) le 1 er juillet 2012 pour une durée de six mois. Le GMG est un groupe inter-agences qui rassemble les directeurs d'organisations internationales afin de promouvoir une application plus large des instruments et règlementations relatives aux migrations.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) officially assumed the chairmanship of the
Global Migration Group (GMG) on 1 July 2012, for a period of six months.
The GMG is an inter-agency group bringing together heads of international organisations to promote the wider application of all relevant international and regional instruments and norms relating to migration, and to encourage the adoption of more coherent, comprehensive and better coordinated approaches to the issue of international migration.
Read more here.
Эксплуатация человеческих жизней - это высокоприбыльный бизнес для организованных криминальных группировок.
La explotación de seres humanos es un negocio altamente lucrativo para los grupos criminales organizados. Tal y como destaca la nueva campaña de UNODC lanzada esta semana, la trata de personas es un mercado ilícito que afecta a millones de víctimas alrededor del mundo cada año. Con unos beneficios anuales estimados de 32.000 millones de dólares, la trata de personas es uno de los crímenes más vergonzosos del mundo, privando de dignidad y despojando de sus derechos a las víctimas.
L'exploitation des êtres humains est une activité extrêmement lucrative pour les groupes criminels organisés. Comme une nouvelle campagne de l'ONUDC lancée cette semaine l'a mis en évidence, la traite des êtres humains affecte chaque année des millions de victimes dans le monde. Avec un profit annuel estimé à 32 milliards de dollars annuels, la traite des êtres humains compte parmi les crimes les plus indignes, violant la dignité et les droits fondamentaux des personnes.
The exploitation of human beings is a highly lucrative business for organized criminal groups. As a new UNODC campaign launched this week highlights, it is an illicit market which affects millions of victims worldwide every year. With traffickers making an estimated $32 billion annually, human trafficking is one of the world's most shameful crimes and one which robs people of their dignity and basic rights.
The thriving cross-border trade in Poipet, a Cambodian town on the Cambodia - Thailand border, attracts many migrant families from other parts of Cambodia. However, the lack of actual job opportunities has led to high unemployment rates and widespread poverty, with most residents earning one dollar a day or less. Child labour is widespread, not only in Poipet, but also through child trafficking and unsafe migration where children from Cambodia are taken across borders to work as beggars and street sellers in Bangkok.
Процветающая транснациональная торговля в камбоджийском городе Паойпэт на границе с Тайландом привлекает множество мигрирующих семей из других уголков Камбоджи. Однако, отсутствие возможностей трудоустройства привело к высокому уровню безработицы и широкому распространению бедности, основное население зарабатывает один или меньше доллара в день.
El próspero comercio transfronterizo en Poipet, una ciudad camboyana en la frontera entre Camboya y Tailandia, atrae numerosas familias migrantes desde otras áreas de Camboya. No obstante, la carencia de oportunidades laborales ha llevado a un aumento de la tasa de desempleo y ha generalizado la pobreza, ya que la mayoría de los habitantes gana un dólar al día o menos.
Le commerce transfrontalier en plein essor de Poipet, une ville cambodgienne sur la frontière entre le Cambodge et la Thaïlande, attire de nombreuses familles de migrants d'autres régions du Cambodge. Cependant, la pénurie d'emplois actuelle a mené à un chômage élevé et à une pauvreté généralisée, la majorité des habitants gagnant un dollar par jour ou moins.
UNODC has brought together, for the first time, Indian actors manning the Indo-Bangladesh border and the Indo-Nepal border. In collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India and the Border Security Force (BSF), UNODC organized a 'National Level Training Workshop for border control officers, front line officers and other relevant actors in victim identification and referral for appropriate treatment and reintegration of trafficked survivors'. The three day workshop with 40 participants took place from 6 to 8 June at the Border Security Force (BSF) Head Quarters in Siliguri, North Bengal.
Ana, a teenage girl from Albania, was only 2 years old when her parents divorced. Ana was sent to live with her father's new family, but when conditions at home became too harsh for her, she decided to run away. Barely into her teens, alone and without any money, the young girl met two boys who promised to help her find a job as a "hostess" in Kosovo. Their only condition was that she had to do everything they told her, no questions asked.
Ana, une adolescente albanaise, était âgée de deux ans seulement lorsque ses parents ont divorcé. Ana est allée vivre avec la nouvelle famille de son père, mais a pris la décision de s'enfuir lorsque ses conditions de vie étaient devenues trop difficiles.
Jeune adolescente, seule et sans revenus, la jeune fille a rencontré deux garçons qui lui ont promis de l'aider à trouver un emploi « d'hôtesse » au Kosovo -à la condition qu'elle fasse tout ce qu'ils lui disent de faire, sans poser de questions.
Lorsque Dana a lu l'annonce d'une agence de voyage proposant à des femmes moldaves de passer un été en Italie pour travailler en tant que serveuses dans une boîte de nuit, elle n'a pas hésité une seconde. La jeune femme de 19 ans rêvait d'aller en Italie depuis longtemps ; elle en avait maintenant l'opportunité, et ce pour une ronde somme d'argent. Dana a répondu à l'annonce et a ensuite fait le voyage fatidique vers l'Italie depuis son pays, niché entre l'Ukraine et la Roumanie.
When Dana read an ad from a travel agency inviting women from the Republic of Moldova to spend a summer in Italy working as waitresses in a nightclub, she did not think twice about seizing the opportunity. The 19-year-old had long dreamed of going to Italy; now she could do so - and even earn good money. Dana responded to the ad and soon after made the fateful journey from her country, nestled between Ukraine and Romania, west to Italy. Upon arrival, Dana found herself trapped in a nightmare.
In order to enhance national action and contribute to the international effort to fight human trafficking, the UNODC Regional Office for Brazil and the Southern Cone, together with the Brazilian National Justice Council (CNJ) and the National Secretary for Justice (SNJ) have committed to collecting and disseminating information regarding all judicial action in Brazil on human trafficking through the UNODC global Human Trafficking Case Law Database.
It is expected that by the end of 2012 at least 50 Brazilian judicial proceedings will be documented in the UNODC Case Law Database.
Wendy's Bahamas, a franchise of the Wendy's international fast food chain, has joined the Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT) and the new Bahamas National Task Force on Trafficking in Persons to launch a unique "anti-trafficking in persons" tray liner in its 10 restaurants in Nassau and Grand Bahama.
Taking a firm stand against human trafficking, especially child trafficking, in the tourism sector, the heads of two United Nations bodies today pledged to stamp out this hidden scourge through joint efforts. Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of UNODC and Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), also called for concerted global action at every level of society.
UNODC and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) today signed an agreement in which they pledged closer cooperation to tackle human trafficking and migrant smuggling and to improve border management, bearing in mind the cross-cutting theme of corruption. The memorandum of understanding was signed by IOM Director General William Lacy Swing and UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov.
Portugal is the latest European country to join the Blue Heart Campaign against Human Trafficking. At any given time, an estimated 140,000 victims of human trafficking are trapped in this vicious cycle of violence, abuse and degradation across Europe. UNODC research shows that victims are often duped by a recruiter who is a relative, a supposed friend or someone they trust.
The President of the sixty-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly, Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, today called on Member States, civil society, the private sector and the media to step up efforts to bring an end to human trafficking, which he called "an appalling form of human rights abuse". "Human trafficking denies individuals their dignity, reducing them to mere objects by shamelessly exploiting them," he said.
United Nations private-sector focal points and senior executives from major global business corporations met in Vienna on 28 and 29 March to devise a more consistent and coherent approach to private-sector engagement across the United Nations system to promote development. The forum examined new types of transformational partnerships for development and shared best practices that would contribute to the achievement of internationally agreed development goals.
Senior staff from UNODC and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) met today to discuss ways to cooperate and coordinate their activities. Opening the session, the Executive Director of UNODC, Yury Fedotov, stressed the importance of their two mandates and called on staff present to find ways in which UNODC and OSCE can add value to each other's work.
Les hauts fonctionnaires de l'ONUDC et de l'Organisation pour la sécurité et la coopération en Europe (OSCE) se sont entretenus aujourd'hui sur des possibilités de coopération et de coordination de leurs activités.
Inaugurant la session, le Directeur exécutif de l'ONUDC, M. Yury Fedotov, a souligné l'importance de leurs deux mandats et a appelé le personnel présent à trouver des moyens pour l'ONUDC et l'OSCE de joindre leurs forces.
On 28 March 2012 the joint UN Commentary on selected articles of the EU Directive on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting victims was launched at the European Parliament.
Working together six United Nations agencies (UNODC, UNHCR, OHCHR, UNICEF, ILO and UN Women) have published a commentary on selected articles of the EU Directive 2011/36/EU.
Reade more here.
25 March 2012 marks the fifth International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
In commemoration of the memory of those victimized, the General Assembly, in its resolution 62/122 of 17 December 2007, declared 25 March the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade observed annually.
This year's theme of...
On a rare occasion, 35 senior officials of Federal and provincial governments, including the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), provincial police Home Departments, Ministry of Social Welfare, Ministry of Human Rights and the Ministry of Human Resources Development, sat side by side to explore strategies to better combat the crimes of smuggling of persons and trafficking in persons at a UNODC hosted workshop, "Strategic Dialogue on Smuggling of Migrants and Trafficking in Persons".
Trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants are global problems affecting states everywhere, and the well-being of countless individuals around the world. Having worked on these issues since the late 1990s, UNODC has now issued a comprehensive strategy setting out the complementary nature of UNODC's work in preventing and combating both human trafficking and migrant smuggling, and defining the immediate priorities for UNODC's future action and engagement on these crimes.
Read more here.
Ximena Navarrete, Miss Universe 2010 and native of the Mexican state of Jalisco, has declared her support for the UNODC Blue Heart Campaign against Human Trafficking. "Humans are not for sale, either in Jalisco or anywhere else in the world", said Navarrete on taking up her awareness-raising role, which is targeted at young people and families in her home state.
Backes and Strauss, the London-based watchmakers, have decided to support UNODC in raising funds for victims of human trafficking by launching an exclusive line of "Victoria Blue Heart watches". The watches were launched yesterday at a special event at the Hotel des Bergues, Geneva.
Working together six United Nations agencies (UNODC, UNHCR, OHCHR, UNICEF, ILO and UN Women) have published a commentary on selected articles of the EU Directive 2011/36/EU.
Over the past decade, the European Union has stepped up its efforts to fight human trafficking strengthening its focus on prevention and protection of victims. The adoption of the 2011 Directive on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims, replacing Council Framework Decision, is the most recent sign of the continued commitment of the European Union in this field. The Directive represents a critical step in addressing human trafficking comprehensively.
As part of its efforts to forge partnerships with the private sector, the UNODC Blue Heart Campaign against Human Trafficking has entered into a joint venture with luxury fashion label Beulah London, a socially conscious brand which, through the manufacture of its fashion items, works with women who have escaped the sex trade in India.
UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov today met Lamberto Zannier, Secretary-General of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), to discuss a joint action plan that will see the two organizations cooperate in tackling organized crime and illicit drugs. The two organizations intend to undertake substantive, long-term cooperation in combating transnational threats, with particular focus on illicit drugs, illicit firearms and terrorism.
UNODC and IOM emphasised the need for a multidimensional, coordinated approach on trafficking in persons including the prevention and victim support services as one of the most exigent issues in human trafficking, at a workshop that took place in Tirana, Albania during 14 to16 December 2011.
High-level representatives of the Government of Lebanon led government officials, local non-governmental organizations, media and UNODC staff in the official launch of the Blue Heart Campaign in Beirut last weekend. Speaking at the launch, Mr. Masood Karimipour, Regional Representative of the UNODC Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa, said: "We are very pleased to note that Lebanon is the first country in the region to join the Blue Heart campaign."
15 December 2011 - UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov met with Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol of Thailand as she led a delegation to the reconvened twentieth session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, which was held in Vienna on 12 and 13 December. Mr. Fedotov expressed condolences to the families of more than 600 Thai nationals who lost their lives in the recent floods in Thailand and to all others affected by that crisis, and said that UNODC would provide assistance in post-crisis activities.
Awareness raising video on migrant smuggling
The Inter-Agency Coordination Group against Trafficking in Persons (ICAT)
The Inter-Agency Coordination Group against Trafficking in Persons (ICAT) is a policy forum mandated to improve coordination among UN agencies and other relevant international organizations to facilitate an integrated approach to preventing and combating trafficking in persons.
The first ICAT meeting was held in Tokyo in September 2006 in response to the ECOSOC Resolution 2006/27, which called for strengthening the coordination of anti-trafficking efforts among relevant UN agencies and other organizations. ICAT was offcially established in March 2007 by General Assembly Resolution 61/180.
More about ICAT.
The International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, 2 December, marks the date of the adoption, by the General Assembly, of the United Nations Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others ( resolution 317(IV) of 2 December 1949).
