2017 was a very busy year for the GAATW Secretariat as a small number of staff covered a range of intensive programme areas and core tasks through which we made some progress in deepening our engagement with the Alliance. It was a year of transition, as some projects and project phases came to an end, and efforts were invested into planning for new ones. Though challenged by uncertainty in our funding scenario, the IS is maintaining pre-existing plans with regard to activities, advocacy and research. We said goodbye to three colleagues, and welcomed two new ones who will work on Research, and South and Southeast Asia.
Our thematic areas of Accountability, Access to Justice and Power in Migration and Work remained key priorities. Throughout 2017 projects and research in Latin America, Southeast Asia, South Asia and parts of Africa, and advocacy at the global level, particularly around the Global Compact for Migration enabled the IS to engage deeply with members and partners, and to collaboratively push for policies that promote and protect the human rights of all migrating people, including trafficked persons. A key highlight of our work in 2017 was a global conceptual clarity workshop on Modern Slavery, Trafficking and Forced Labour in conjunction with Beyond Trafficking and Slavery (BTS), which enabled the IS for the first time in a few years to create a learning and networking space where members and partners from all over the world could meet.