Human trafficking does not adhere to boundaries; it can occur within a single country or cross international borders. It is impacted by a wide range of global challenges, including human rights violations, labor practices, lack of educational opportunities, gender discrimination, and violence, among others. As a result, these complexities make modern day slavery beyond the capabilities of any one nation to solve; it requires a united international response.
The UN is the only forum where all of the world’s countries can come together and work on solutions to global issues. And while the UN may seem distant from us as individuals, its international efforts are almost always in partnership with civil society groups working on the ground to make lofty aspirations a reality. Looking to the UN can help you understand what is being done to tackle major challenges in your own state, region, or country — and hold policymakers accountable for the international commitments they have made.
Combating Trafficking at the United Nations
The Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is the UN’s key organization leading the fight against human trafficking and migrant smuggling. Since the adoption of the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocols, when 181 member states acceded to the Trafficking Protocol, UNODC has trained over 35,000 anti-trafficking and anti-smuggling experts, helped investigate and prosecute hundreds of cases, and supported victims. It also releases the biennial Trafficking in Persons Report.
One of the first international efforts at the UN level was the Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking, launched in 2007. UNODC worked in cooperation with the International Labour Organization, the International Organization for Migration, the UN Human Rights Council, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the UN International Children’s Fund.
The Inter-Agency Coordination Group against Trafficking in Persons (ICAT), also established in 2007, is “a policy forum mandated by the UN General Assembly to improve coordination among UN agencies and other relevant international organizations to facilitate a holistic and comprehensive approach to preventing and combating trafficking in persons.”
Other multilateral efforts include the Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, launched in 2010, which called for “integrating the fight against human trafficking into the United Nations’ broader programmes to boost development and strengthen security around the world,” and to set up a UN voluntary fund for trafficking victims.
United Nations Multilateral Efforts
Human trafficking has been on the international agenda for decades. At the United Nations, the most recent multilateral effort against human trafficking has been woven into the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In 2015, the UN member states agreed to the Agenda for Sustainable Development: 17 SDGs broken down into 169 targets to be accomplished by 2030. Trafficking in persons is specifically mentioned in three targets under three goals: Goal #5, Gender Equality; Goal #8, Decent Work and Economic Growth; and Goal #16, Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions.
Target 5.2 seeks to “eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation.” It includes sex trafficking, forced marriage, begging, labor, and domestic servitude.
Target 8.7 focuses on taking “immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labor, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour”.
Target 16.2 calls for ending abuse, exploitation, trafficking, and all forms of violence against children. The Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children, launched in 2015, is a UN effort aligned with this target.
Human trafficking is also implicit in other targets, as trafficking in persons is rooted in “development issues at-large including poverty, education, child labour, abuse and exploitation, gender inequality and discrimination, migration and effects of climate change.”
For example, other parts of SDG #5 also assist in the fight against human trafficking by focusing on strengthening protections for and value of paid domestic work and ensuring women have equal access to economic resources. Other targets of SDG #8 address underlying conditions that can facilitate trafficking or forced labor, such as lack of access to work. SGD #16 seeks to “provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.” SDG #4, which focuses on quality education and lifelong learning opportunities, addresses low levels of education and educational opportunities that can lead to situations of exploitation, such as trafficking.
Flagging Progress
Despite the multilateral intentions, UN officials report that the world is “nowhere near to achieving the SDGs.” Human trafficking and migrant smuggling in particular have been getting worse. They are “multi-billion-dollar businesses that have changed dramatically in recent years, driven by global challenges such as war, large migration and refugee flows, cybercrime, climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic.”
While considerable progress has been achieved over the past two decades, that progress is under threat. Due to the pandemic, the number of detected victims of trafficking worldwide fell by 11% between 2019 and 2020. Organized crime and the usage of digital technologies have made it easier for criminals to recruit, exploit, and advertise. Financial constraints, debt burdens, armed conflicts, and forced displacement in countries around the world have hindered efforts to protect victims and to investigate and prosecute perpetrators.
Updated Multilateral Efforts
In April 2024, UNODC updated its trafficking approach, launching a new global initiative titled “Action against Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling.” The new action will focus on increases in the usage of digital technologies for criminal purposes, linking trafficking to cybercrime, money laundering, drug trafficking, and corruption. Specifically, it will focus on human trafficking victims among migration and refugee flows, as well as on children. Currently, the UN’s Blue Heart Campaign is also being used to raise awareness.
More recently, the UN General Assembly approved the Pact for the Future during the two-day Summit of the Future on September 22 and 23rd, 2024. The Pact is the result of over a year of negotiations “to reboot multilateralism for a safer, more peaceful and prosperous world,” with the lagging progress towards achieving the SDGs in mind.
Actions that relate to human trafficking include:
- Action 31, which seeks to ensure science, technology, and innovation are used to improve gender equality and the lives of all women and girls. Specific targets, rather like SDG targets, focus on improving education and employment opportunities for women and girls and using technology to address gender-related challenges, including “sexual and gender-based violence, trafficking in persons, harassment, bias and discrimination against women and girls.”
- Action 35, which aims to “promote, protect and respect the human rights of all young people and foster social inclusion and integration.” Specific targets focus on “immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labor, end modern slavery and trafficking in persons, especially women and children, and eliminate all forms of child labor,” as well as combating gender stereotypes and negative social norms that facilitate violence against women and girls.
Many stakeholders — international organizations, civil society, and even some member states — have criticized the SDGs, labeling them as nondescript desires instead of specific plans to make advances. The Pact for the Future is meant to address challenges in implementing the SDGs, looking at increasing progress, giving more teeth to existing agreements, and prompting more action from member states.
Still, even with the passage of the Pact in September, there was considerable disagreement among member states, with some saying the final version agreed upon is too ambitious while others claim it is too watered down. The Pact may or may not revive multilateralism, and efforts to end human trafficking and its related causal factors must still be closely monitored and evaluated to ensure the world is on track.
The challenge of ending modern day slavery is much bigger than any one country and requires coordinated responses around the world. However, you can make meaningful contributions to the global fight by educating yourself on human trafficking in your own country and elsewhere in the world, understanding models, policies, and legislation to combat trafficking, knowing the signs of trafficking, supporting survivors, and making conscious decisions about items you buy.
Originally from New Jersey, Corinne has always loved learning about different cultures and her family’s ancestral roots across Europe. She earned her Bachelors in International Studies at the College of New Jersey and recently received her Masters in International Relations in Madrid. She currently works for an international organization at the UN in New York, and hopes to continue working on important global issues and their intersections with gender equality. In her free time, Corinne is likely to be on a hiking trail, at the gym, in the kitchen baking and listening to music, or on the couch with a good book.
