PRESS RELEASE

OSCE 2019 co-chairing of ICAT shows effectiveness of multilateralism in action

BRATISLAVA, 6 December 2019 - A event on “Effective Multilateralism in Action: OSCE co-chairing of ICAT, a year in review” was held yesterday on the margins of the OSCE Ministerial Council. The panel discussion focused on key milestones of this year’s co-chairpersonship, by the OSCE, of the UN’s Inter-agency Coordination Group Against Trafficking in Persons (ICAT).

Panelists representing the full geographic reach of the OSCE - from the United States to the Russian Federation – spoke in unison on the need to enhance efforts to combat trafficking in human beings and jointly commended the OSCE’s leadership of ICAT for making tangible progress in international efforts.

ICAT is a policy forum mandated by the UN General Assembly to make headway in addressing the crime of trafficking through prevention, enhanced prosecution and victim protection measures. It brings together 24 entities across the UN system and other relevant international and regional organizations and is dedicated to promoting co-ordinated responses against persistent and emerging forms of trafficking.  

For the first time since its establishment, this global platform is co-chaired in 2019 by the OSCE and UN Women, combining the expertise, values and outreach of a regional security organization with that of a UN agency dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.

Participants reviewed ICAT’s 2019 work in in supporting States’ efforts to tackle human trafficking, including initiating a multi-stakeholder conversation of the intersection of technology and trafficking, launching an innovative partnership with the UN Procurement Network to enhance due diligence in their supply chains, and focusing on victim-centred approaches for those harmed by trafficking. As human trafficking touches upon all aspects of socio-economic issues, ICAT also presented how it supports the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including through its policy recommendations on trafficking-related SDGs.

Discussions during the event illustrated how the OSCE’s engagement in ICAT highlights the organization’s contribution to effective multilateralism – even at the global level through its expertise and innovative approaches to targeted issues like technology, victim protection, and procurement, its ability as a regional organization to bridge the gap between global and local efforts to combat trafficking, and to develop consensus around challenging issues.

In his presentation, OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for combating Trafficking in Human Beings Valiant Richey stressed that in its co-chairing role, the OSCE tried to foster exchange, discussion, and consensus. “Trafficking knows no borders and co-operation is vital. This grave global threat requires a holistic response involving a wide range of actors from government to civil society, from international organizations and agencies to the private sector. ICAT—and the OSCE’s co-chairing thereof—has shown it has the potential to support effective multi-agency efforts in combatting human trafficking by capitalizing on each other’s expertise and geographical scope, and by harmonizing our approaches.  The OSCE’s engagement in ICAT demonstrates how we can both advance OSCE goals through ICAT and advance ICAT goals through the OSCE. Multi-lateralism is not a zero-sum game. It can be a win-win”, said Richey.

The side-event was moderated by John Brandolino, Director, Division for Treaty Affairs, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. In addition to the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, participants in the panel discussion were: Andrei Bushilo Director, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus; Katarzyna Gardapkhadze, First Deputy Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR); Grigory Lukiyantsev, Special Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation for Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law and Deputy Director of the Department for Humanitarian Cooperation and Human Rights; Argentina Szabado, IOM Regional Director for Eastern and South Eastern Europe and Central Asia; and James S. Gilmore III Ambassador of the United States Mission to the OSCE.

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