How the #UNODC is Fighting Human Trafficking during the pandemic

COLOMBO (News 1st); A recent regional expert group meeting for Asia-Pacific region hosted out of Vienna by the UN Office on Drugs & Crime (UNODC) represented a major milestone in forging fruitful Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) that improve the lives of vulnerable populations worldwide. 

The event convened dozens on experts under the banner of “Public Private Partnerships to Counter and Prevent Trafficking in Persons” and marked the path forward for further collaboration in combating human trafficking. The event saw State representatives from Australia, Cambodia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Sri Lanka. The event also garnered the interest of the private sector; professionals from companies such as British Petroleum, Facebook, HSBC, Microsoft, Far Eastern International Bank, MAST Human, Outland Denim, the Bayat Group and Sri Lanka’s Capital Maharaja Group. The meeting was opened by Sabine Baun, Director of International Employment and Social Policy at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Government of Germany — the main donor behind this initiative and was moderated by Rebecca Miller of the UNODC. Serena Grant from The Walk Free Foundation stressed the importance of being cognizant to get the right people to the table to discuss a wide range of issues linked to human trafficking, while speaking from Sri Lanka, Chevaan Daniel of CMG highlighted the critical importance of addressing period poverty amongst migrant workers returning from the Middle East due the pandemic. This Asia-Pacific meeting is one of four regional meetings, with the others focusing on South Eastern Europe, the Americas and Africa. The event aims to improve effective partnership between the public and private sectors with a view to better assisting Member States in their implementation of the United Nations Transnational Organised Crime Convention (UNTOC) and its supplementing Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (Trafficking in Persons Protocol).