OSCE Special Representative issues statement ahead of EU Anti-Trafficking Day

VIENNA, 16 October 2008 - The OSCE Special Representative Eva Biaudet, on behalf of the Alliance Expert Co-ordination Team (AECT), released a statement today underscoring the fundamental role of a National Rapporteur or equivalent mechanism in the fight against human trafficking.

Biaudet said: "The Alliance Expert Co-ordination Team (AECT) believes that the establishment of national rapporteurs or equivalent mechanisms throughout the European Union and beyond will contribute towards better knowledge and understanding of trafficking in human beings (THB). The AECT is convinced that this mechanism is an essential instrument which also can contribute towards a comprehensive and sustainable policy against THBTHB
Trafficking in human beings based on reliable information. Moreover, implementation of such a concrete instrument at national level is devoted to strengthen the message that first and foremost the responsibility of addressing THB rests in the hands of governments."

"The National Reporting Mechanism, or an equivalent, would also provide the opportunity to better evaluate responses and monitor concrete results and progress achieved so far. This national mechanism can also contribute towards better regional and international co-operation among similar counterparts since information can be a means of creating a better basis for drawing up policy and developing appropriate action at all levels, from national, regional to international."

The AECT facilitates exchanges of experience, best practices and lessons learned, as well as joint actions, to combat human trafficking across the OSCE region.

AECT participants who signed the statement include: the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, UNIFEM, UNICEF, UNICEF Innocenti Centre, ILO, IOM, ICMPD, Europol, Interpol, Dutch National Rapporteur, Nexus Institute, Anti-Slavery International, ECPAT, La Strada International, International Federation of Terre des Hommes, and Save the Children.

The statement comes ahead of the European Union's Anti-Trafficking Day (18 October).