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UNODC worked closely with the CECAW Committee to support the development of the General Recommendation no. 38 on Trafficking in Women and Girls in the Context of Global Migration (i.e. contributed significantly to consultations, organized the regional Expert Group Meeting for Europe, Central Asia and the Balkans, coordinated a separated joint ICAT submission).
Other activities included:
- Support to the 30th Session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (May 2021), which adopted a resolution recognizing the "importance of eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation",
- Support towards organizing a Multi-stakeholder Hearing on implementation of the UN Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons (GPA), on 13 July 2021, which discussed topics such as sexual exploitation of women and girls and the principle of non-punishment of victims of trafficking.
- UNODC also coordinated the preparation of a join ICAT submission to the GPA appraisal process, underlining the importance of integrating violence prevention measures aimed to tackle the social norms that promote the commodification of women and children and normalize violence against women and girls.
Under the Spotlight Initiative join programmes for Mexico and Kyrgyzstan, UNODC promoted protection, support and services for victims and survivors of gender-based violence.
In Viet Nam, UNODC continued technical support to Domestic Violence Rapid Response Teams, composed of police officers, Women’s Union leaders and volunteers, providing immediate support and options to survivors, facilitating prosecution of perpetrators and supporting a zero tolerance culture towards gender-based violence in the community.
During the 28th session of the Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) from 20-24 May 2019, UNODC co-organised two side events of relevance: firstly, “The role of technology in facilitating and addressing sex trafficking,” held together with the Government of Belarus, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Equality Now; secondly, the “UNODC issue paper on inter linkages between trafficking in persons and marriage,” held together with the Government of Germany and the European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control (HEUNI).
Protection and assistance for victims of trafficking and victims of aggravated smuggling are issues addressed in all training and capacity building work concerning trafficking in persons that UNODC undertakes. All UNODC responses, activities and publications on trafficking in persons are gender- and age-responsive, human-rights-based and victim-centred.
UNODC manages the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking, which financially supports grass-roots NGOs who provide direct and immediate assistance to victims of trafficking. 90% of projects support victims who are women or girls. Donations are collected from 31 States and 32 private companies. So far, USD 3.5 million have been distributed to 60 NGOs world-wide. Currently, a fourth round of applications is being evaluated by the Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section (HTMSS) with over 330 NGOs applying for grants between USD 5,000-60,000 each.
In Guatemala, as part of the Office’s support to National Civil Police under the Joint UN Global Programme on Essential Services for Women and Girls subject to Violence, UNODC supported the attribution of additional functions to citizen service offices to help better support victims of gender-based violence.
UNODC participated in a consultation meeting for a General Recommendation by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on trafficking in women and girls in the context of global migration in Geneva in December 2018. UNODC will be closely involved in the development of the General Recommendation, including a keynote statement during CEDAW’s 72nd session in Geneva in February 2019.
UNODC organized a number of side events in cooperation with relevant partners, including on essential services for women and girls subject to violence and on the importance of gender equality and human rights for victims of trafficking in persons, during the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in May 2018 and the Conference to the Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Crime in October 2018.
UNODC contributed to ICAT Issue Brief # 4: “The gender dimensions of human trafficking a gender issue brief providing recommendations on a gendered approach to prevention and response to trafficking that affects women and girls.
Protection and assistance for victims of trafficking in persons are cross-cutting issues addressed in all training and capacity building work concerning trafficking in persons that UNODC undertakes.
UNODC manages the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking, that financially supports grass-roots NGO who provide direct assistance to victims/survivors of human trafficking. During the reporting period the Trust Fund provided grants to 21 projects across the globe, mainly focusing on women and girls, particularly those trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Further, in 2017, the Trust Fund launched a call for proposals for its third grant cycle starting in 2018, prioritising projects assisting women and girl victims coming out of a context of armed conflict, as well as refugee and migration flows.
In the State of Palestine, UNODC supported six doctors in completing their four-year training programme in foresing medicine, which helped them to examine cases of sexual and gender based violence in West Bank forensic medicine clinics.
UNODC is working together with UN Women, UNFPA, UNDP and WHO to implement the UN Joint Global Programme on Essential Services for Women and Girls subject to Violence in pilot countries, including Egypt, Guatemala, Peru, Pakistan, Tunisia and Viet Nam.
UNODC convened an open-ended intergovernmental expert group meeting on gender-related killing of women and girls in Bangkok in November 2014, adopting recommendations for action against gender-related killing of women and girls (E/CN.15/2015/16).