The President of Colombia acknowledges the work of UNODC on the World Day Against Human Trafficking

       

Bogota, 30 July, 2014. Today, countries from all over the world commemorate the first World Day Against Human Trafficking (HT) by carrying out different activities. Colombia joins this celebration with the organization of the I International Meeting of Survivors of Human Trafficking "Breaking the Silence". An event prepared by the Ministry of Interior, Marcela Loaiza Foundation (MLF) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC. The celebration is also supported by the International Organization for Migration-IOM.

The meeting, held in Cali city, was attended by over 280 people, national press and public officials working to fight this crime. Some of the participants were Juan Camilo Restrepo, ViceMinister of Interior; Mauricio Castro, delegate of the Government of Cali; Felipe Montoya, peace advisor to the mayoralty; David Alamos, UNODC Officer-in-charge; Carolina Lopez, Coordinator of the IOM Program on Trafficking and Gender, and Marcela Loaiza, director of the MLF for the support of the HT victims.

The President of the Republic of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, also sent a word of sympathy for the victims. "Fighting this scourge has been, is and will be a priority for the national Government. We are giving this fight a holistic approach, where besides supplying ourselves with tools for the identification, investigation and prosecution, we give a leading role to prevention, protection and promotion of possible cases and of course, assistance to victims," said the president in his message.

This event exposes experiences of survival, perseverance and courage of seven women and a man from different nationalities, who suffered by this kind of situation in the past.  The celebration seeks an opportunity to hear the voices of HT survivors, who have not had a space to raise awareness on this crime.

"I want to thank the attendance of all the participants at this meeting, especially to Marcela Loaiza, who from her foundation represents the courage and tenacity of those who have managed to recover from this atrocity. Moreover, I extend my considerations to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for organizing this event, which we also support from the Ministry of Interior", said the Colombian leader.

In addition, Cali will join this commemoration by launching the "Conmigo no hay trata" campaign and the art show "Espacios Vacios", an initiative by UNODC with the support of IOM, the Ministry of Interior and the European Union. 

More info:

http://fundacionmarcelaloaiza.com/portal/encuentro-rompiendoelsilencio

http://www.conmigonohaytrata.com