Statement by the Permanent Representative of the Argentine Republic, Amb. Martín García Moritán

Apil 7, 2016 

 

Thank you Mr. Facilitator.

At the outset, allow me to thank the Permanent Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations for organizing this event, as well as the distinguished speakers and panelists, in order to put in the spotlight the importance of working together to achieve Target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals, tackling the problem of forced labor, modern slavery and human trafficking.

Argentina has a long standing commitment on the fight against human trafficking, as one of the worst forms of violence against human beings and which compromise the dignity of all people. Our commitment has always been focus in preventing and penalizing this crime while enhancing the government capacity to assist and protect the victims.

In our national context, a Federal Council was created in 2008 in order to fight against trafficking and exploitation of people, coordinating actions related to this problem at national and local levels and making recommendations to the federal government regarding the need to update or modify the legal framework.

Not only national ministries and governmental agencies are members of this Federal Council, but also representatives from civil society, in particular NGOs working in the field of human rights and the combatting of trafficking in persons, in order to strengthening the engagement with the ground field organizations.

Our Federal Council is currently working in new outreach programs, to increase awareness-raising campaigns and training key public officials to tackle the problem of trafficking in persons, sexual exploitation and related crimes.

These initiatives have also taken into account the importance of understanding the complexity of this crime and its direct links with drug trafficking and organized crime.

The importance of the Federal Council laid in the need to work closely with local actors, mapping regions throughout the country and gathering information from direct sources from those who work daily on the ground to fight this problem. Regional programs and particular preventions campaigns are being designed to specifically target the different types of vulnerabilities of people across the country.

Finally, I would like to point out the relevance of making use of modern technology as a tool to prevent trafficking in persons and to reach the victims with a view to let them know their rights and the governmental mechanisms to assist them.

Thank you.