Global Compact

International Migrants Day Statement, IOM Director General António Vitorino: “Harnessing the Potential of Human Mobility”
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International Migrants Day Statement, IOM Director General António Vitorino: “Harnessing the Potential of Human Mobility”

Geneva – International Migrants Day this year falls almost exactly 70 years after the Brussels conference that led to the establishment of the International Organization for Migration. Over these seven decades we have provided assistance to millions of migrants worldwide and worked tirelessly with our member states to ensure migration is managed in a safe,…

UNODC Contribution to the Progress Declaration of the International Migration Review Forum
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UNODC Contribution to the Progress Declaration of the International Migration Review Forum

As the guardian of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) and the Protocols thereto, including the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air (Smuggling of Migrants Protocol) and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children (Trafficking in Persons Protocol), UNODC strives…

UN urged to endorse declaration on safe migration to address human trafficking
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UN urged to endorse declaration on safe migration to address human trafficking

Following the first-ever International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) meeting last week, UN member states have endorsed a 13-page declaration to ramp up efforts on safe migration. The UN General Assembly has also been urged to endorse the declaration in the coming months. Safe migration policies that are rooted in the protection of migrants’ human and…

GLO.ACT-Bangladesh and the WARBE Development Foundation organize a consultation on migrant smuggling
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GLO.ACT-Bangladesh and the WARBE Development Foundation organize a consultation on migrant smuggling

Dhaka, Bangladesh 13 May 2022 – Smuggling networks take advantage of and benefit from the lack of comprehensive legislation on the Smuggling of Migrants (SOM). Due to ill-defined and weak legislation, smugglers exploit existing loopholes and often operate with relative impunity. As far as smugglers are concerned, they are providing a service that is in…

UNODC Statement for the Co-facilitators’ Virtual Townhall With Stakeholders and UN Entities
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UNODC Statement for the Co-facilitators’ Virtual Townhall With Stakeholders and UN Entities

7 March 2022 Thank you, Ambassadors, and congratulations again your appointment as co-facilitators. On behalf of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, thank you for setting a clear plan for action for the coming months. As well as a member of the Network Executive Committee, UNODC is the guardian of the fundamental international…

UNODC and IOM Confirm Commitment against Organized Crime
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UNODC and IOM Confirm Commitment against Organized Crime

Vienna (Austria) 07 February 2022 – The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) are longstanding allies in the global fight against human trafficking and migrant smuggling. In a recent event, the two organizations reaffirmed their commitment to the objectives of the Global Compact for Migration (GCM)…

International Migrants Day
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International Migrants Day

Vienna (Austria) 18 December 2021 – As the world marks International Migrants Day, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) urges countries to uphold human rights while combatting the criminal networks who smuggle migrants for profit. Further calls are for better access to pathways for regular migration, an adherence to obligations that are…

Migrant Smuggling on the United Nations Intergovernmental Agenda
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Migrant Smuggling on the United Nations Intergovernmental Agenda

Vienna (Austria) 8 December 2021 – The Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ), the United Nations’ main policymaking body on crime prevention and criminal justice, held its annual thematic discussion on 8 December 2021.

Governments need to step up protection for the most vulnerable, from ‘vile crime’ of human trafficking: UN chief
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Governments need to step up protection for the most vulnerable, from ‘vile crime’ of human trafficking: UN chief

“Trafficking in persons is a vile crime that feeds on inequalities, instability and conflict,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres in a statement, adding that traffickers “profit from peoples’ hopes and despair,” explaining that women and children are particularly vulnerable. According to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Inter-Agency Coordination Group against Trafficking (ICAT), more than…

UN experts urge India to align new anti-trafficking bill with human rights law
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UN experts urge India to align new anti-trafficking bill with human rights law

Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, and Urmila Boola, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, said in a statement that they were “gravely concerned” about the bill as presented by the Government to the Indian Parliament last week. “Its focus on addressing trafficking from a criminal law perspective is not sufficiently complemented…