Americas

Americas

UN official calls for greater efforts to end human trafficking

03 April 2012 22:16 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. UN General Assembly President Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser said here Tuesday that the international community must intensify efforts in the fight to stop human trafficking, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Al-Nasser made the call for action while addressing the UN General Assembly at an interactive dialogue on "Fighting Human Trafficking: Partnership and Innovation to End Violence against Women and Children." The dialogue will serve a follow-up to an international conference on trafficking in women and girls that was held here in March 2007.

"We have to redouble our efforts to ensure that concrete and concerted action upholds the rights and freedoms for all, bringing an end to this appalling crime," said Al-Nasser.

"Human trafficking is an appalling form of human rights abuse," he went on, "It denies individuals their dignity by reducing them to mere objects by shamelessly exploiting them."

According to Al-Nasser, the majority of those trafficked are children, women and migrants, who are the weakest and most vulnerable members of society. And an estimated 2.4 million people around the world are victims of human trafficking at any one time. The victims are put into forced labor or domestic servitude and may be exploited sexually.

While heralding the UN Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons as an important tool to stop the destructive practice, Al-Nasser said an appraisal of the plan’s progress would be presented to the UN General Assembly next year. He also said he hoped that Tuesday’s dialogue would provide a solid foundation for that meeting.

The UN Voluntary Trust Fund for victims of human trafficking, which developed from the plan of action, is "already making a difference" for victims of human trade worldwide, said Al-Nasser, but needs further resources.

"The fund needs the strong and continued support of member states and civil society, especially the private sector and the media, if it is to succeed as an engine for the delivery of assistance to victims," he said.