Philippines to host meet on sex trafficking

(From the Philippine News)

Feb 14, 2007
NEW YORK—The Philippine Mission to the United Nations is organizing a one-day international conference on Trafficking in Women and Girls on 5 March 2007 in cooperation with the Permanent Mission of Belarus, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the NGO Vital Voices Global Partnership.


“One of the most deplorable ills of human society is the continuing trade in human beings. The hardest hit victims of this crime happen to the most fragile and vulnerable—women and girls,” Ambassador Lauro L. Baja Jr., Permanent Representative of the Philippines said.

“The Conference will keep the momentum of international anti-trafficking efforts following the adoption by the UN General Assembly of the Philippines and Belarus resolutions on the issue last year,” Baja said. “The Philippines has always been in the forefront in the efforts of the international community to work out a comprehensive, well-coordinated and rights-based approach to combating human trafficking.”

The Conference will be held within the framework of the informal thematic debate of the UN General Assembly on gender equality and the empowerment of women. It will complement the round-table discussion in the Commission on the Status of Women on elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child.

The Conference seeks to discuss the ways of ensuring holistic and comprehensive response of the international community to the challenge of trafficking in women and girls and share information about new partnerships and ways of improving the coordination of efforts against trafficking in women and girls.

It also intends to analyze the current state and degree of coordination of efforts of national governments, international organizations and civil society to fight trafficking in persons and identify gaps and obstacles on the way to an coordinated and coherent response by the international community and elaborate measures and consider further actions to improve coordination of efforts. It also seeks to advocate for gender-based and gender-sensitive anti-trafficking measures as an indispensable approach to rights-based anti-trafficking strategies.

“The President of the General Assembly and the Secretary General have confirmed their participation in the Conference and we are hoping for ministerial level attendance from member states,” Baja said. “We are in effect replicating the concept and format of our successful tripartite conference on interfaith cooperation for peace.”

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