PH Plays Leading Role in UN High-Level Meeting on Combating Human Trafficking  

Ambassador Enrique A. Manalo reports the summary of the panel discussion to the General Assembly and highlights the call of experts and civil society organizations to involve various stakeholders, including technology companies, in the design and implementation of anti-trafficking measures. (Photo from New York PM)

UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK, 29 November 2021 — The Philippines played a leading role in the High Level Meeting to Appraise the Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, which was conducted on 22 to 23 November 2021. Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Enrique A. Manalo, co-facilitated the Modalities resolution for the High-Level Meeting as well as the Political Declaration on the Implementation of the Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons.

Ambassador Manalo also chaired the 38th plenary meeting that heard statements of Member States about their anti-trafficking efforts, and facilitated a panel discussion on emerging issues on human trafficking and delivered the panel’s summary report before the General Assembly.

The Political Declaration on the Implementation of the Global Plan of Action was adopted by consensus at the High-Level Meeting. The declaration called on Member States to intensify efforts to implement the non-punishment principle. This principle prevents the punishment of trafficking victims for acts they were compelled to commit as a direct consequence of their trafficking situation.

The said declaration also called for the protection of migrants in all stages of the migration journey in order to reduce their risk of being trafficked. Member States also reaffirmed their commitment to evince strong political will to take decisive concerted action to end the heinous crime of human trafficking, wherever it may occur. 

The Political Declaration is a result of more than three months of intergovernmental negotiations that was led by Ambassador Manalo with Ambassador José A. Blanco, Permanent Representative of the Dominican Republic.

As part of the High-Level Meeting, the panel discussion chaired by Ambassador Manalo focused on the Global Plan of Action and emerging issues such as trafficking in persons in the context of COVID-19 and the misuse of information and communications technologies to facilitate trafficking, including trafficking of children for sexual exploitation on the Internet.

Experts from the UN Office on Drugs and from civil society organizations shared information and made recommendations on emerging issues and the evolving landscape of human trafficking. Ambassador Manalo delivered a summary of the recommendations, including various recommendations on how to involve trafficking victims and survivors in policy-making and counter-trafficking efforts.

The High Level Meeting was conducted pursuant to UN Resolution A/Res/75/283, which Ambassador Manalo co-facilitated with the Permanent Representative of Georgia. As mandated by the UN Resolution A/Res 68/192 of 18 December 2018, a high-level meeting to appraise the progress of the implementation of the Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons is conducted every four years. END

For more information, visit https://www.un.int/philippines/   and https://web.facebook.com/PHMissionNY

Ambassador Enrique A. Manalo chairs the hybrid panel discussion on emerging issues related to trafficking and encourages sharing of good practices and recommendations on innovative ways to combat trafficking using ICTs (Photo from  New York PM)