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OAS and Brazil Sign Agreement to Celebrate the Fourth Meeting of National Authorities on Trafficking in Persons in Brasilia

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, and the Interim Representative of Brazil to the hemispheric body, Breno de Souza Dias Da Costa, signed today at the Organization’s headquarters in Washington, DC a letter of understanding for the holding of the IV Meeting of National Authorities on trafficking in persons to take place in Brasilia on December 4 and 5.

At the signing ceremony, Secretary General Insulza recalled that for over a decade the OAS has worked to prevent and combat the crime of human trafficking. "From a technical point of view, we have taken actions to support member states in the process of prevention, prosecution of traffickers and assistance to victims; from the political perspective, the states have held a forum composed of national authorities in the field to discuss issues of common interest, which has met three times since 2006, in Venezuela, Argentina and Guatemala.

The leader of the hemispheric Organization noted that the December meeting in Brasilia "will be an ideal framework to promote hemispheric dialogue on national coordination mechanisms on the issue and will lead to the consideration and approval of two tools to guide the actions of States in the matter: the Second Work Plan against Trafficking in Persons in the Western Hemisphere for the 2015-2018 period, that will strengthen and deepen our existing efforts at the national and regional level, and the Inter-American Declaration against Trafficking in Persons that will reinforce the political commitment of member states to prevent and combat this crime."

For his part, the representative of Brazil stated that trafficking in persons "is a serious problem that damages the most fundamental human rights and affects all OAS member states; a crime that has been identified as a contemporary form of slavery, and that must be addressed in a coordinated manner by the various public bodies with the participation of civil society." He also explained that in the context of the meeting, national authorities will exchange information and experiences on how to deal with this crime and discuss the most relevant aspects concerning the types of exploitation, victim assistance as well as the national and international mechanisms for coordinating policies related to trafficking in persons, among others.

"As the host of the Fourth Meeting, Brazil not only reiterates the importance it attaches to this issue, but our firm commitment to support regional efforts to address this crime in a comprehensive and coordinated manner," said the Brazilian delegate.

National Authorities of the hemisphere on the issue of human trafficking gathered in Brasilia will discuss the current state of efforts to prevent and fight this scourge and explore additional actions needed to prevent and combat it.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

The B-Roll of the event is available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-494/14