UN adopts Belarus-sponsored resolution on combating trafficking in persons

On 10 November, the Third Committee of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly adopted by consensus the traditional Belarusian resolution " Improving the coordination of efforts against trafficking in persons”, Azernews reports, citing BelTA.

The resolution, which has been adopted by the UN General Assembly since 2006, is a practical contribution to the development of the initiative put forward by Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko at the UN summit in 2005 to build a global partnership to combat trafficking in human beings.

The document has a significant number of co-sponsors (more than 40 states) representing all regions of the world, which testifies to the relevance of the Belarusian initiative and the high level of confidence given to Belarus in consolidating international efforts to combat trafficking in human beings.

The resolution ensures that the UN continues to give consistent priority attention to the issue of combating trafficking in human beings and is a one-of-a-kind umbrella, universal document on this topic.

The document brings together all the individual thematic initiatives in the field of combating trafficking in human beings promoted by states in the UN. In practice, the resolution demonstrates the ability of the international community to overcome the fragmentation that previously existed in the UN and serves as an additional platform for further strengthening international partnership on such an important issue.

The resolution reflects the integral contribution of universal and regional organizations and mechanisms to combat trafficking in persons, including within the framework of the Inter-Agency Coordination Group against Trafficking in Persons, a number of UN entities (the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, the Office on Drugs and Crime), the OSCE and others.

The resolution focuses on a number of recent global challenges that the international community continues to face in the fight against human trafficking. In particular, attention is drawn to trends in the use of information and communication technologies for trafficking in persons. There has been an increase in the number of migrants among victims of human trafficking. It also calls on the international community to step up measures to assist victims of trafficking.