UN praises Belarus efforts to combat human trafficking

19:03, 13 February 2013

MINSK. February 13. KAZINFORM The Global Report on Trafficking in Persons was presented at the UN headquarters in New York on 12 February. The report was compiled by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The document was drafted in line with the Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons that was passed upon the initiative of Belarus at the 64th session of the UN General Assembly in 2010, BelTA learnt from the press service of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry.

Speaking at the presentation were UN Deputy Secretary General, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime Yuri Fedotov and Resident Representative of the Republic of Belarus in the UN Andrei Dapkyunas. They praised the report as a balanced, comprehensive and reliable document that will make an important contribution to the preparation of the high-level meeting of the General Assembly to assess the implementation of the global plan that will be held at the UN headquarters on 13 May 2013.

The report is meant to facilitate comprehensive study of trafficking in human beings and work out efficient strategies to combat this global threat. The document contains relevant country profiles in the field of human trafficking, including description of crimes and victims, exploitation forms used by traffickers and the reasons behind numerous trafficking flows. One of the chapters of the report contains a regional overview of trafficking patterns and flows and ways the issue is addressed at the national level. The report will be published once in two years.

The report acknowledges Belarus' efforts to combat human trafficking on the national and international levels. In particular, the report praises a solid legislation and implementation of laws in Belarus, as well as the country's leading role in the United Nations, including as a coordinator of the Group of Friends United Against Human Trafficking.

Taking part in the event were over 100 national delegations of the UN member states and representatives of NGOs.

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