Improving the Coordination of Efforts Against Trafficking in Persons

A/RES/78/228View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 107Crime prevention and criminal justice, published in 2023.

What other versions does this mandate have?

11 versions · 2007–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/80/228

2025A/RES/80/228Improving the coordination of efforts against trafficking in personsLatestCompare with previous version
2023A/RES/78/228Improving the coordination of efforts against trafficking in personsCompare with previous version
2022A/RES/76/186Improving the coordination of efforts against trafficking in personsCompare with previous version
2020A/RES/74/176Improving the coordination of efforts against trafficking in personsCompare with previous version
2018A/RES/72/195Improving the coordination of efforts against trafficking in personsCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

5 topics

Coordination Within UN System Crime Prevention Inter-Agency Cooperation International Cooperation Trafficking in Persons

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

1 report of the Secretary-General submitted under this mandate, 2025.

2025A/80/234Improving the coordination of efforts against trafficking in persons report of the Secretary-General

Identified automatically from the metadata in each report’s UN Digital Library catalogue record.

What does this mandate say?

33 operative paragraphs

Urges Member States that have not yet done so to consider ratifying or acceding to, as a matter of priority, the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, taking into consideration the central role of those instruments in the fight against trafficking in persons, and also urges States parties to those instruments to fully and effectively implement their obligations;

Urges Member States and other stakeholders mentioned in the United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, and invites the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and relevant international, regional and subregional organizations, within their respective mandates, to continue to contribute to the full and effective implementation of the Global Plan of Action, including by means of strengthening cooperation and improving coordination among themselves in achieving that goal;

Calls upon Governments to closely follow developments in the area of international protection of victims of trafficking in persons in order to protect the human rights of such persons and to ensure compliance with international humanitarian law and international human rights law;

Recalls the holding of the high-level meetings of the General Assembly during its sixty-seventh session, from 13 to 15 May 2013, during its seventy-second session, on 27 and 28 September 2017, and during its seventy-sixth session, on 22 and 23 November 2021, to appraise the progress achieved in the implementation of the Global Plan of Action, which, inter alia, reiterated strong political will to take decisive concerted action against trafficking in persons;

Also recalls its decision, in its resolution 68/192, to appraise, from within existing resources, on a four-year basis starting at its seventy-second session, the progress achieved in the implementation of the Global Plan of Action in order to assess achievements, gaps and challenges, including in the implementation of the relevant legal instruments, and therefore reiterates its decision, in its resolution 76/186, to convene a high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the progress achieved in the implementation of the Global Plan of Action at its eightieth session, after the general debate, but no later than December 2025;

Reaffirms its request to the Secretary-General and to the President of the General Assembly, in close cooperation and coordination with Member States, to take all appropriate measures to arrange the high-level meeting;

Recalls its decision to designate 30 July as the World Day against Trafficking in Persons, to be observed annually, and, while welcoming events held by Member States, United Nations agencies, other international organizations and civil society at the international, regional and national levels to mark the World Day, invites all stakeholders to continue to observe the World Day in order to raise awareness of trafficking in persons and the situation of the victims of this crime and for the promotion and protection of their rights;

Expresses solidarity with and compassion for victims and survivors of trafficking in persons, and calls for the full respect of their human rights and the provision of appropriate victim-centred, trauma-informed, gender-responsive and age-sensitive care and assistance, where applicable, including interpretation and sign language, where appropriate, to victims of trafficking, and services for their rehabilitation or recovery, as appropriate, in cooperation with civil society and other relevant partners;

Expresses support for the activities of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, reaffirms its request to the Secretary-General to provide adequate support to the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, and invites Member States to make voluntary contributions to the Office for the purpose of providing assistance to Member States upon request;

Encourages the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to cooperate with relevant international organizations outside the United Nations system and to invite such organizations and interested Member States to participate, when appropriate, in the meetings of the Inter-Agency Coordination Group against Trafficking in Persons and to keep Member States informed of the schedule of and the progress made by the Coordination Group;

Takes note of the Inter-Agency Coordination Group Plan of Action, endorsed on 15 December 2020, as well as of the first regional consultation on trafficking in persons in Eastern Africa, held in virtual format on 7 and 8 February 2022;

Welcomes the fourth and fifth meetings of the Inter-Agency Coordination Group at the level of principals, held in virtual format on 2 December 2022 and on 8 November 2023, which reinforced the vital role of inter-agency partnership in tackling trafficking in persons, and requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, as coordinator of the Coordination Group, to continue to convene such meetings of the Coordination Group at the level of principals on a regular basis, and in this context takes note of the engagement of the European Union Anti-Trafficking Coordinator with the Coordination Group, and encourages the Coordination Group to engage with relevant regional and international organizations from other regions;

Also welcomes the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children and the United Nations University as the newest members of the Coordination Group, and further welcomes the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences as the newest partner of the Coordination Group;

Invites regional and international organizations, within their mandates, to join and consider co-chairing, along with a United Nations agency, the Inter-Agency Coordination Group to strengthen the exchange of expertise and regional experiences and thus enhance international cooperation in combating trafficking in persons and assisting the victims of this crime;

Takes note of the ongoing process undertaken by the Inter-Agency Coordination Group to conduct studies on emerging trends in the field of trafficking in persons, and to ensure that information-sharing among relevant agencies and between countries is done in accordance with international and national legal frameworks and takes into account privacy and confidentiality;

Invites the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, in its capacity as coordinator of the Inter-Agency Coordination Group, and other relevant agencies of the United Nations system to further strengthen their activities related to the implementation of relevant international instruments and the Global Plan of Action to drive greater progress in eliminating trafficking in persons, and invites Member States and other international and bilateral donors to provide voluntary contributions to the Office for these purposes, in accordance with the policies, rules and procedures of the United Nations;

Calls upon Member States to take into consideration new methods of recruiting those at risk of being subjected to trafficking in persons, such as the misuse of the Internet by traffickers, in particular for recruiting children, to take measures to develop targeted awareness-raising campaigns, including for law enforcement, front-line service providers and at-risk industries, to identify the signs of trafficking in persons and to develop specialized training for law enforcement and criminal justice practitioners;

Encourages Member States to take, consistent with domestic law, legislative or other measures, where appropriate, to facilitate the detection, by Internet service and access providers or other relevant entities, of child sexual exploitation and child abuse materials related to offences involving trafficking in children, as required by domestic frameworks and to ensure, in compliance with domestic law, the reporting of such materials to the relevant authorities and their removal by Internet service and access providers or other relevant entities, including in conjunction with law enforcement in the investigation and prosecution;

Invites Member States to address the social, economic, cultural, political and other factors that make people vulnerable to trafficking in persons, such as poverty, unemployment, inequality, humanitarian emergencies, including armed conflicts and natural disasters, sexual violence, gender discrimination and social exclusion and marginalization, as well as a culture of tolerance towards violence against women, youth and children;

Recognizes that in armed conflicts trafficking in persons can be prevalent, and in this regard calls upon Member States to ensure the comprehensive application of international humanitarian law, international criminal law, international human rights law and international refugee law, in accordance with respective obligations, to trafficking in persons in conflict situations for all purposes of exploitation, and to both internal and cross-border trafficking in persons, in order to ensure accountability, prevent impunity and provide effective access to justice for trafficked persons;

Expresses deep concern about the increasing links between armed groups, including terrorist groups, and trafficking in persons, involving the coercion of victims, in particular women and girls, into forced marriages, sexual slavery, forced pregnancy, forced labour, domestic servitude and sexual exploitation, and subjecting men and boys to forced labour or act as combatants;

Encourages Member States to seek to address trafficking in persons in global supply chains, including by considering the development of common public procurement standards, compliance requirements or codes of conduct and by harmonizing frameworks, in line with domestic legislation, including those guiding anti-trafficking efforts and sustainable procurement;

Calls upon Member States, international organizations, civil society organizations, the private sector and financial institutions, through partnerships, as appropriate, to increase and support prevention efforts in countries of origin, transit and destination by focusing domestically and globally on the demand and supply chains that foster all forms of trafficking and the goods and services produced as a result of trafficking in persons and to consider cooperating to organize awareness-raising campaigns, programmes to facilitate the identification of victims of trafficking and the provision of assistance to those victims;

Stresses the need to intensify the efforts to prevent irregular migration and create and strengthen pathways for safe, orderly and regular migration to reduce the exposure of people on the move to trafficking in persons, and in this regard encourages Member States to take legislative or other measures to prevent, combat and eradicate trafficking in persons in the context of international migration by strengthening capacities and international cooperation to investigate, prosecute and penalize trafficking in persons, discouraging demand that fosters exploitation leading to trafficking, and ending impunity of trafficking networks;

Encourages Member States to cooperate on issues concerning trafficking in persons with the Inter-Agency Coordination Group;

Also encourages Member States to cooperate with the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, as well as with other relevant special procedures, including the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, the Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material, and the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences;

Calls upon Member States to continue their efforts to criminalize trafficking in persons in all its forms, including the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs, especially concerning children and persons with disabilities, and to condemn these practices and to investigate, prosecute and penalize traffickers and intermediaries while providing victim-centred, trauma-informed, gender- and age-sensitive protection and assistance to the victims of trafficking with full respect for their human rights, and invites Member States to continue to support those United Nations agencies and international organizations that are actively involved in victim protection;

Also calls upon Member States to take measures to support family reunification for victims of trafficking in persons, where safe and appropriate, especially when those are children, taking into consideration the best interests of the child;

Notes the second consultative meeting on strengthening partnerships with national rapporteurs and relevant mechanisms on trafficking in persons, held in Bangkok on 21 and 22 May 2014, co-hosted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the establishment of an informal network of such mechanisms located all over the world to address trafficking in persons in a consistent manner and to exchange information and best practices built on different national experiences, requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to continue its efforts to collect information on national efforts to combat trafficking in persons, as well as on relevant national mechanisms, to make up-to-date information available to Member States, and invites Member States to host consultative meetings between relevant national mechanisms on trafficking in persons that continue transnational dialogue and the exchange of information on common challenges;

Requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, in its capacity as fund manager of the United Nations voluntary trust fund for victims of trafficking in persons, especially women and children, to continue to encourage contributions by States and all other relevant stakeholders to the trust fund;

Welcomes the biennial publication of the Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, prepared by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, looks forward to the next such report, to be produced by the Office in 2024, pursuant to the Global Plan of Action, supports the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime trafficking in persons data capacity-building programme, and strongly encourages Member States to provide to the Office evidence-based internationally standardized data on patterns, flows and forms of trafficking in persons, including for the purpose of the removal of organs and in the context of sport, based on the International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes;

Encourages the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the Inter-Agency Coordination Group against Trafficking in Persons in coordination with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to consider updating, subject to the availability of extrabudgetary resources, respectively the Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking and the commentary thereon, the Guidelines on the Protection of Child Victims of Trafficking and the Toolkit for Guidance in Designing and Evaluating Counter-Trafficking Programmes of the Coordination Group;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit a report on the implementation of the present resolution to the General Assembly at its eightieth session, including recommendations on measures to bring greater urgency to and improve the coordination of efforts against trafficking in persons.

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