India launches country report on efforts to combat trafficking

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India launches country report on efforts to combat trafficking

http://www.ungift.org/ungift/en/stories/india-launches-country-report-on-efforts\

-to-combat-trafficking.html

5 December 2008 - Trafficking and sexual exploitation of children and

adolescents cannot be solved by a single nation or an organization working

alone. Need of the hour is to counter these violations against children through

a coordinated international action by governments, international organizations,

non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and communities worldwide. Following the

1996 Stockholm and 2001 Yokohama global forums, the Government of Brazil hosted

the World Congress III against the Sexual Exploitation of Children and

Adolescents in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 25-28 November 2008.

The congress, attended by nearly three and a half thousand participants across

the world, representing civil society, governments, international organizations

and youth, was organized around five broad themes, namely:

Forms of Sexual Exploitation and its New Scenarios

Legal Framework and Accountability

Integrated Cross Sector Policies

Initiatives of Corporate Social Responsibility

Strategies for International ation

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Regional Office for South

Asia (ROSA) has been actively involved in combating and preventing human

trafficking through its programmes and initiatives in collaboration with the

National Governments, particularly the Ministry of Women and Child Development

(MWCD) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in India.

As part of the above mentioned partnership approach and as well as in

preparation for the Congress, UNODC, in collaboration with MWCD, compiled an

India Country Report on efforts to combat human trafficking, which was presented

at a high-level inter-governmental meeting under the theme of Integrated Cross

Sector Policies on 27th November, 2008.

The report is a process documentation, which marks the journey in India to

address issues of human trafficking in women and children from World Congress II

to World Congress III on Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents.

The report highlights the good and emerging practices in the area of anti human

trafficking, acknowledging the efforts of the Government, civil society

organizations, international, bilateral and multilateral agencies, survivors

groups, and dedicated individuals in the process. The report was presented at

the meeting by Dr. Manjula Krishnan, Economic Advisor, MWCD. The Indian

Delegation also comprised of Dr. Santha Sinha, Chairperson, National Commission

on Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), Ms. Anju Bhalla, Deputy Secretary, MWCD,

and Ms. Sandhya Bajaj, Member, NCPCR. UNODC ROSA was represented by Ms. Bidisha

Pillai, Officer in Charge, UN.GIFT in South Asia.

The report was appreciated by members of other government delegations and

participants and presented a good opportunity for UNODC to showcase the

initiatives on Anti Human Trafficking in South Asia, especially highlighting

those involving a diverse range of stakeholders including the government, law

enforcement agencies, civil society and the private sector.