UNIS/SGSM/1461
29 November 2024
On this International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, we shine a light on the estimated 50 million people worldwide trapped in horrific conditions – from human trafficking to forced labour, sexual exploitation and forced marriage.
Around the world, perpetrators prey on those made vulnerable by poverty, discrimination and conflict — including women and children — and profit from immeasurable human suffering.
These outrageous abuses have no place in the 21st century. They are not only an affront to basic human rights — they slow development, entrench inequalities, and undermine sustainable economic development.
The recently adopted Pact for the Future calls for the eradication of forced labour, an end to modern slavery and trafficking in persons, and the elimination of all forms of child labour.
To transform words into deeds, governments must strengthen law enforcement, uphold human dignity, protect, liberate and support victims, and bring perpetrators to justice. And businesses must ensure supply chains are free of exploitation and promote fair and transparent labour practices.
Everywhere, let us join forces to detect, report and abolish contemporary forms of slavery in all its forms.
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With the deposit of the instrument of accession at the UN Headquarters in New York, Bahrain becomes the sixteenth State Party to the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation, also known as the "Singapore Convention on Mediation".
Visa-free entry, temporary protection and targeted anti-trafficking measures across Europe for refugees from Ukraine are effectively mitigating trafficking and smuggling risks, suggests a new study from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), launched today in Kyiv.
The new Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations (Vienna), Yurii Vitrenko, presented his credentials today to the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV), Ghada Waly.
During its 142nd session, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) focused on ensuring the functioning of the international drug control system and efforts to ensure the availability of controlled medicines and to prevent illicit drug manufacture, diversion and misuse.
