By: UN Voluntary Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery
GENEVA, Dec. 2, 2009 - The International Day for the Abolition of Slavery should serve as a reminder to people everywhere that slavery is not only a thing of the past. It is an appalling reality that today millions of human beings all over the world continue to be subjected to contemporary forms of slavery. There is no country immune to its proliferation.
As pointed out by the UN Secretary General in his message to mark that day*: “In our globalized world, new forms of slavery have taken shape. The list of abhorrent practices, new and old, is now shockingly long, and includes debt bondage, serfdom, forced labour, child labour and servitude, trafficking of persons and human organs, sexual slavery, the use of child soldiers, the sale of children, forced marriage and the sale of wives, and the exploitation of prostitution.
The majority of those who suffer are the poor and socially excluded groups such as minorities and migrants. The overlapping factors of poverty, class and race create structural problems and cycles of marginalization that are hard to break. Indigenous peoples are more exposed to bonded labour because in many countries they have limited access to land. Gender inequalities and discrimination, lack of education, desperation for work and demand for cheap labour also trap people. The global economic and financial crisis threatens to heighten vulnerability further”.
We welcome the appointment of several relevant thematic procedures, including the new Special Rapporteur** on contemporary forms of slavery, its causes and consequences as a historic step in the fight against slavery and the eradication of slavery-like practises. We also congratulate the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children; the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography; the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance; the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences; the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on children in armed conflict and the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, for their outstanding efforts to combat modern forms of slavery.
We urge all States to ratify and implement existing instruments in this area –including the optional protocol to the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children.
On this day, we pay tribute to all Governments, civil society organizations and individuals engaged in activities aimed at eradicating slavery and ensuring that all victims obtain redress, including the means for as full rehabilitation as possible. We express our profound commitment to the struggle against slavery and particularly to the victims.
We appeal to Member States to implement their obligations to abolish and eradicate slavery in all its manifestations. We express our gratitude to all donors to the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Contemporary Forms of Slavery and call upon the international community to express its solidarity with victims of slavery by contributing generously to the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of
Slavery to allow it to increase its assistance to victims and contribute to ending these intolerable and unacceptable practices worldwide.
(*) UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Message for the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery: http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2009/sgsm12615.doc.htm
(**) Statement by UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary forms of Slavery, Ms. Gulnara Shahinian, on the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery:
http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=9652&LangID=e
The UN Voluntary Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery was established by the General Assembly in 1991 to provide, through established channels of assistance, humanitarian, legal and financial aid to individuals who are victims of contemporary forms of slavery.
Learn more about the UN Voluntary Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Slavery/Pages/SlaveryFundMain.aspx
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