Agenda item 2(b): Review of the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocols thereto: Trafficking in Persons Protocol

17 October 2012

Thank you Madame Chair,

The Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women, the World Society of Victimology, the International Commission of Catholic Prison Pastoral Care, the Academic Council on the United Nations Systemand the Vienna Alliance of NGOs welcome this opportunity to discuss the implementation of the UNProtocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.

States do not and cannot work alone to end human trafficking, a situation that was recognised by the negotiators of the UN Trafficking Protocol. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other elements of civil society are named as actors in the Protocol.^[1] As a recognised part of the anti-trafficking response,these non-State actors – whose roles range from direct service providers for survivors of traffickingto facilitators of multi-stakeholder initiatives– must also be meaningfully included in the process to review the implementation of the Protocol. This is not about“naming and shaming” States. This is about accountability. Accountability of all the actors named in the Trafficking Protocol and of all actors who are in receipt of funds to deliver benefits to survivors of trafficking. This is a call to ensure we have the opportunity to identify good practices and challenges from whichever stakeholder they come from. This is about improving the efficacy of anti-trafficking initiatives.

The need for international cooperation in fulfilling our collective duties has been recognised by States. We respectfully remindStates that at the 19^th session of the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Vienna in May 2010 they adopted a resolution that made explicit the vital role of civil society in “effectively countering the threat of trafficking in persons”:

Recognizing also that broad international cooperation between Member States and relevant intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations is essential for effectively countering the threat of trafficking in persons and other contemporary forms of slavery,^[2]

This confirmation was reiterated in the same year, at the 12^th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, held in Salvador, Brazil.^[3] The Salvador Declaration clearly recognises the importance of civil society participation in crime prevention efforts and specifically, in the work to end human trafficking.[4] In particular:

Paragraph 33. We recognize that the development and adoption of crime prevention policies and their monitoring and evaluation are the responsibility of States. We believe that such efforts should be based on a participatory, collaborative and integrated approach that includes all relevant stakeholders including those from civil society.