GLOBAL INITIATIVE TO FIGHT HUMAN TRAFFICKING

(UN.GIFT)

“South Asian Regional Conference on Human Trafficking”

10 – 11 October 2007

Vigyan Bawan, New Delhi

The first South Asian Regional Conference on Human Trafficking titled UN.GIFT concluded with the Delhi Declaration announced at the valedictory function attended by Mr. Shivraj Patil, Minister for Home Affairs, Ms Renuka Chowdhury, Minister for Women and Child Development, Mr. Oscar Fernandez, Minister for Labour, Mr. Jeffery Avina, Director of Operations UNODC Vienna, Mr. Gary Lewis, Representative UNODC and hosts of others, Participants from across the South Asian countries.

The New Delhi Declaration and contents about its contents will provide a tool for increased advocacy against human trafficking. The collaborative format under which the Declaration will be accepted will add to its legitimacy and acceptance among the very stakeholders who will b implementing its contents.

Trafficking in women and children is a matter of great concern all over the world. Human trafficking is a booming illegal international trade, making an estimated $32billion annually at the expense of millions of victims – many of them children – who are victims of sexual exploitation and forced labour. According to UN estimates, approximately 150,000 people are trafficked within south Asia annually making the region second only to South Asian in prevalence of human trafficking.

In order to generate awareness, the UNODC, South Asia, in collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Women and Child Development in India, kicked-off the initiative with a South Asia Regional Conference on Human Trafficking, at New Delhi, on 10 October 2007. The inaugural session had a large gathering of participants from various sectors and countries around South Asia including the government, law enforcement representatives, NGOs, activists, business houses and corporates, the media , arts and film personalities, as well as UN officials and other experts.

Identified Areas of Discussion

1. Round Table: Developing Business Responses to Human Trafficking
2. Round Table: Tackling Human Trafficking – Role of media
3. Law enforcement responses to human trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation
4. Community participation for prevention of human trafficking
5. Protecting the victims of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation
6. Trafficking for forced labour – Role of corporations, law enforcement agencies and the NGOs
7. Trans-national human trafficking – the importance of promoting safe migration
8. HIV/AIDS and human trafficking
9.  

Delhi Declaration

The South Asia Regional Conference of the Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT):

Recognizing that being trafficked for exploitation goes against basic human rights - 

Acknowledging that each of our countries have to work in a unified way towards eradicating human trafficking in all its exploitative manifestations; and also acknowledging the relevance in this context of the UN Transnational Organized Crime Convention and its supplementary Protocols to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling in Migrants;

Concerned that the awareness of all sections of society on the extent and nature of the problem needs to be enhanced;

To this end declare as follows:

1.         To call upon all concerned including police, prosecutors and the judiciary to undertake concerted action in law enforcement so that offenders are punished quickly, certainly and severely and in a time bound manner;

2.         To make all efforts towards evolving a synergistic approach in dealing with trafficking issues;

3.         To work towards systemic training and capacity building of all stakeholders;

4.         To strengthen the legal processes wherever required including the protection of the victims;

5.         To protect all children from sexual exploitation and take all stringent measures against sex selection and violence against the girl child;

6.         To reduce demand for prostitution, use of child labour, forced labour and to strengthen the collaborative efforts of NGOs, local governments, and other institutions to prevent all forms of trafficking for this purpose;

7.         To recognize the role of youth as change agents and to promote education of the girl child, and social and economic empowerment of women leading to their full participation in the economic life and in decision making;

8.         To identify vulnerable areas including the study of migration and trafficking trends and patterns and to undertake focused programmes to target trafficking through planned and evidence-based interventions;

9.         To ensure the availability of proper protocols and legal processes for rescue and repatriation procedures, which are oriented towards victim care and protection;

10.        To devise sustainable processes for victim reintegration into society in alignment with the work of voluntary agencies, local bodies and community leaders;

11.        To identify inter-state and intra-state source, transit and destination routes for forced labour and to cooperatively work out modalities to prevent labour exploitation in concert with trade unions and employers associations;

12.        To prevent brokers and intermediaries from indulging in trafficking for forced labour and other forms of illegal purposes, including specifically domestic child labour;

13.        To promote safe migration and discourage irregular migration;

14.        To integrate HIV strategies into anti-trafficking strategies and mitigate the health hazards of trafficked victims through inter-sectoral collaboration;

15.        To promote the prevention of commercial sexual exploitation in close alignment with community leaders, health workers and NGOs;

16.        To recognize patterns between trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation;

17.        To build a business coalition against trafficking and to develop appropriate codes of conduct and ethical trade practices for business;

18.        To encourage awareness campaigns to prevent trafficking by way of public private partnerships;

19.        To build a coalition of media partners and popular personalities to advocate for the prevention of trafficking.

For more visit www.giftasia.in