Topic: 2024-Human Trafficking
Country: Ukraine
Delegate Name: Nico Sproule
General Assembly: Social, Humanitarian & Cultural Committee
Human Trafficking
Ukraine
Nico Sproule
Human trafficking is an epidemic that impacts nearly 40.3 million people around the world, particularly women and children (Council on Foreign Relations). In times of war and instability, exacerbates the prevalence of human trafficking and becomes harder to combat. This is an issue that Ukraine is currently dealing with. Ukraine has historically been a large source country for human trafficking, but the country has been making efforts to remedy this through the implementation of the National Referral Mechanism for Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings in Ukraine (U.S. Department of State) and the Law of Ukraine on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings. Since the Russian invasion, the situation has gotten worse in Russian-occupied territories as well as throughout Ukraine due to the redistribution of policing efforts and a delay in the court system. These issues have led Ukraine to believe in the vital importance of gaining control over the human trafficking situation within the country as well as throughout the world.
Many international efforts have been made to combat human trafficking, including the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings and the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, both of which have been ratified by Ukraine (Melnyk 13). The United Nations has further supported the prevention of human trafficking through the creation of the Inter-Agency Coordination Group against Trafficking in Persons, which allows intergovernmental agencies to collaborate to form comprehensive approaches to combating human trafficking (United Nations). Despite these actions, human trafficking remains a major global issue. Implementing better protections against human trafficking at the national level (Komenda) as well as working to decrease impunity for convicted human traffickers may help to alleviate the issue.
Ukraine is in need of assistance combating human trafficking and believes that more support is needed for national governments wishing to create more just legal and support systems for victims of human trafficking. The UN can help combat human trafficking within Ukraine by helping educate Ukrainian refugees and internally displaced persons on the warning signs of human trafficking through the UN Refugee Agency, as those groups have been shown to be the most vulnerable. The recent Russian invasion has drastically worsened the issue of human trafficking in Ukraine through the creation of conditions of vulnerability for many fleeing violence. This is not an issue unique to one country, and Ukraine believes that the UN plays a vital role in the prevention of human trafficking by addressing the conditions of violence that lead to vulnerability and victimization.
Works Cited
Council on Foreign Relations. “Human Trafficking in the Global Era.” Council on Foreign Relations, 21 Dec. 2020, education.cfr.org/learn/reading/human-trafficking-global-era. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
Komenda, Heather. “Despite Progress, More Needs to Be Done to Address the Crime of Trafficking in Persons.” United Nations, United Nations, 24 July 2023, un.org/en/un-chronicle/despite-progress-more-needs-be-done-address-crime-trafficking-persons. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
Melnyk, Anna. “Trafficking in Human Beings in Ukraine.” Geneva Centre for Democratic Control of Armed Forces, Oct. 2014, pp. 13, files.ethz.ch/isn/185732/Melnyk-THB-Ukraine.pdf.
United Nations. “About US | The Inter-Agency Coordination Group Against Trafficking in Persons.” United Nations, icat.un.org/about. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.
U.S. Department of State. “2023 Trafficking in Persons Report: Ukraine.” U.S. Department of State, 2024, state.gov/reports/2023-trafficking-in-persons-report/ukraine/. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
