25 March 2009 - Today is the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says that "Despite the official abolition of slavery, racism still pollutes our world. So too do contemporary forms of slavery". UNODC and the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT) argue that human trafficking is a form of contemporary slavery that shames us all.
The UNODC Regional Office for South Asia Project "Strengthening the law enforcement response in India against trafficking in persons through training and capacity building" is a joint initiative of the UNODC and the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs.
Under that project, UNODC ROSA teamed with the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) of India to organize a one day Colloquium on Justice Delivery in Human Trafficking Crimes for Judicial Officers, Prosecutors and Police Officers on 15 November 2008 in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. The colloquium involved all three wings of the criminal justice system, from all over India. Participants also included representatives from the media, UN agencise, civil society partners and students as observers. More than 250 senior officials attended this event.
5 March 2008 - Today at the Women's World Awards in Vienna, UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa launched the Blue Heart Campaign with actors Claudia Cardinale and Monica Bellucci and other stars to rally world public opinion against human trafficking. This crime strips people of their rights, ruins their dreams, and robs them of their dignity. It is a global problem and no country is immune.
2 March 2009 - The findings of 22 strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) workshops with law enforcement, penal prosecution and judicial authorities conducted during 2008 by UNODC in Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, have been put together in a regional report which analyses in depth the political, legal, institutional and technical conditions to investigate trafficking in persons, and provides practical recommendations to overcome gaps in the prosecution of traffickers.
This slide show, accompanied by an interview with the Chief of the UNODC Anti-Trafficking Section, Brian Taylor, clearly illustrates the situation in West Africa.
UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa releases the 2009 Trafficking in Persons report at a press conference in New York the same day that he also appointed Miro Sorvino
UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa releases the 2009 Trafficking in Persons report at a press conference in New York the same day that he also appointed Miro Sorvino
In New York, Academy Award-winning actress Mira Sorvino, was appointed as UNODC Goodwill Ambassador's to Combat Human Trafficking.
Ms. Sorvino is a critically-acclaimed and award-winning actress, producer and an accomplished human rights advocate.
To coincide with the Vienna Forum to Fight Human Trafficking, UN.GIFT has produced a new Public Service Announcement video spot. The theme - a man walks through a market without realising the human trafficking crimes happening around him - calls for people to open their eyes to human trafficking.
UN.GIFT has produced a new Public Service Announcement (PSA) video spot to coincide with the Vienna Forum to Fight Human Trafficking. The theme - a man walks through a market without realising the human trafficking crimes happening around him - calls for people to open their eyes to human trafficking.
UN.GIFT has produced a new Public Service Announcement (PSA) video spot to coincide with the Vienna Forum to Fight Human Trafficking. The theme - a man walks through a market without realising the human trafficking crimes happening around him - calls for people to open their eyes to human trafficking.
UNODC met with Alexia Taveau, Crime prevention expert, who participated in the making of the Trafficking in Persons report. Alexia whose main region of study was South East Asia, discusses how making this report was a major data collection exercise and what were the challenges in seeking information in South East Asia.
On February 12 th 2009, UNODC launched the Trafficking in persons report. A first of its kind, the report reflects the state of the world's response to human trafficking containing information from 155 countries and territories. UNODC met with Research Expert Fabrizio Sarrica, who discusses the report's findings and how it offers an unprecedented view of the scope of human trafficking and what is being done to fight it.
12 February 2009 - A Global Report on Trafficking in Persons launched today by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) provides new information on a crime that shames us all.
Based on data gathered from 155 countries, it offers the first global assessment of the scope of human trafficking and what is being done to fight it. It includes: an overview of trafficking patterns; legal steps taken in response; and country-specific information on reported cases of trafficking in persons, victims, and prosecutions.
A Global Report on Trafficking in Persons launched today by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) provides new information on a crime that shames us all.
Based on data gathered from 155 countries, it offers the first global assessment of the scope of human trafficking and what is being done to fight it. It includes: an overview of trafficking patterns; legal steps taken in response; and country-specific information on reported cases of trafficking in persons, victims, and prosecutions.
Global Report on Trafficking in Persons
12 February 2009 - New York, NY: Academy Award-winning actress Mira Sorvino, will be appointed a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Goodwill Ambassador to Combat Human Trafficking. The ceremony takes place in the Trusteeship Council Chamber of the United Nations between 3:00-5:00 pm on Thursday, 12 February.
4 February 2009 - A week-long training course on the UNODC manual to counter kidnapping was recently inaugurated in Mexico City. The opening included senior officials from the Mexico General Attorney's Office, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Foreign Relations and UNODC.
11 February 2009 - One year on from the Vienna Forum to Fight Human Trafficking, UN.GIFT will launch a "Global Report on Trafficking in Persons". The report is the result of a major data collection exercise carried out during 2007 and 2008. A first of its kind, the report reflects the state of the world's response to human trafficking containing information from 155 countries and territories. It offers an unprecedented view of the scope of human trafficking and what is being done to fight it, including global trafficking patterns and the legal steps taken in response.
To coincide with the Vienna Forum to Fight Human Trafficking, UN.GIFT has produced a new Public Service Announcement video spot. The theme - a man walks through a market without realising the human trafficking crimes happening around him - calls for people to open their eyes to human trafficking.
Duration: 0:30 and 0:60
The spot calls on the general public to take action against human trafficking by showing a woman helping a victim escape her forced labour situation. UNODC worked closely with local partners in the distribution of the spot to add a telephone hotline number at the end for help or more information.
The spot seeks to empower victims of human trafficking by showing that it may be possible to escape forced labour situations. UNODC worked closely with local partners in the distribution of the spot to add a telephone number where victims are able to receive assistance and support.
Young women who are at risk of becoming victims of human trafficking networks are the focus of this Public Service Announcement. The spot uses powerful images to reveal the harsh realities behind attractive job offers abroad, and seeks to educate potential victims of the dangers involved in human trafficking.
The focus of this award-winning spot is the trafficking in men, women and children for forced labour, such as in factories, fields or as domestic servants. The spot aims to warn potential victims about the dangers of trafficking, and to raise awareness among the general public of this growing problem.
"We lined up the villagers, about 20 of them, and chopped their hands with a machete. They dropped to the ground screaming. We cracked their skulls."
Opoko is a handsome boy with vivid eyes, in his late teens and a former child-soldier whom I met at a camp in the town of Gulu, northern Uganda, organized by UNODC and the ICC Trust Fund for Victims.
Child-soldiers, their victimization and exploitation for violence against civilians, are a dramatic case of contemporary slavery - one that UNODC is committed to fight in the four corners of the world as part of our anti-human trafficking initiative (UN.GIFT).
Read about the Executive Director's mission to Uganda and the dramatic stories reported to him by dozens of children in conflict.
There is no return from the heart of darkness.
The spot seeks to empower victims of human trafficking by showing that it may be possible to escape forced labour situations. UNODC worked closely with local partners in the distribution of the spot to add a telephone number where victims are able to receive assistance and support.
Duration: 0:45
2 December 2008 - Today is the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, commemorating the abolition of the slave trade by Britain some 200 years ago. At an International People's Lecture organized last week by the NGO Stop The Traffik, lawyer Cherie Booth QC said freedom from slavery was the very first human right recognized by international law.
Between 30 November and 2 December 2008, expert law enforcers and prosecutors from around the world gathered in Saly, Senegal, to share their experience in investigating and prosecuting migrant smuggling with a view to providing practical input to the elaboration of basic training modules on preventing and combating the Smuggling of Migrants.
The meeting was hosted by the UNODC Regional Office for West and Central Africa, together with Europol and Interpol, and with the assistance of the UNODC Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa. The meeting was made possible through funding received from the European Union.
Expert participants came from Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Senegal, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States of America as well as Interpol and Europol....
An example of UNODC's assistance to States in implementing the Protocol is UNODC's Impact Programme which aims to support States in West and North Africa in implementing the Migrant Smuggling Protocol and strengthen criminal justice systems by;
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Browse and download UNODC's anti-trafficking and anti-smuggling tools and publications.
20 October 2008 - According to a newly released national report, only 60 cases involving victims of human trafficking are officially identified every year in Lebanon. These include cases that are either processed through the courts or through the national Complaints Office.
Following her appearance at the Vienna Forum to Fight Human Trafficking in February 2008, in this Public Service Announcement (PSA), Emma Thompson voices for the victims of human trafficking.
Following her appearance at the Vienna Forum to Fight Human Trafficking in February 2008, in this Public Service Announcement (PSA), Emma Thompson voices for the victims of human trafficking.
18 September 2008 - Central America is hard hit by human trafficking. In countries like Guatemala, organized criminal groups prey on poverty and desperation to recruit victims through force and deception. To support anti-trafficking efforts, earlier this year UNODC started providing assistance to specialized anti-trafficking units in Guatemala and the region.
In July 2008, the Ibero American Association of Public Prosecutors Offices (AIAMP), the highest political penal prosecution instance in the region, resolved to recognize UNODC project against trafficking in persons (XCAS26) in Central America as a model program to be replicated in other countries.
Focused on strengthening investigative capacities of prosecutors and police services, the XCAS26 program brings to the table an innovative methodology in the provision of technical assistance: training material and trainer's guidelines are produced jointly with the beneficiaries of the project. Felipe De La Torre, UNODC crime prevention expert and project coordinator based in Mexico City comments: "By involving our future trainees in the actual elaboration of tailor-made capacity building tools, UNODC is able to ensure a legitimate and democratic process that empowers public officials and suits real needs". UNODC and its partner ILANUD (United Nations Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of the Offenders) are currently carrying out workshops in each Central American country in order to enrich and validate these tools which will serve as the basic material for an intensive training phase beginning in 2010.
9 June 2008 - When I first served the United Nations in Bolivia (from 1991 to 1994), trafficking in persons was not an issue. Only drug trafficking was discussed. Now, this has definitely changed. I returned to Bolivia in early 2007 when Evo Morales, the first indigenous President of Bolivia, had just completed his first year as head of Government. He has made a strong commitment to the elimination of discrimination against the indigenous population.
4 June 2008 - At any given time, millions of people are probably suffering the exploitation of modern-day slavery. No country is immune from human trafficking, a crime that that shames us all. UNODC reports that victims from 127 countries undergo exploitation in 135 nations. And human trafficking is big business. The United Nations and other experts estimate the total market value of illicit human trafficking at $32 billion.