Releasing the Second Global Report on Trafficking in Persons by the UNODC
24 November 2014- The Second Global Report on Trafficking in Persons was presented to the media and Member States by the UNODC today at 10:00 am in Vienna. The releasing of the report is going to take place in front of an audience of several hundred participants and speakers of the ceremony will be the UNODC Executive Director, a representative from civil society, the UNHRC Special Rapporteur on Human Trafficking and the Chief of the UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons.
Virtually every country in the world is affected by the crime of trafficking in Persons. The challenge for all countries, rich and poor, is to target the criminals who exploit desperate people and to protect and assist victims of trafficking and smuggled migrants, many of whom endure unimaginable hardships in their bid for a better life.
UNODC as custodian of the United Nations Transnational Organized Crime Convention and its supplementing Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, have always supported countries in their fight against Transnational Organized Crime (TOC), while providing cooperation and technical assistance to support member states.
In July 2010, UN General Assembly adopted the Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons. Among its provisions was a request for an expanded knowledge base on trafficking in persons and UNODC was given the mandate and duty to collect data and report biennially on trafficking in persons patterns and flows at the national, regional and international levels.
Accordingly, the First Global report on Trafficking in Persons was published and distributed by the UNODC in 2012. This Report provided a solid basis for understanding the global nature of this form of modern slavery, as well as information on the patterns and flows of human trafficking across the world.