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Remarks by the President of the 78th session of the General Assembly,<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n Mr. Dennis Francis,<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n at the<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>Side Event on Technological Solutions on Tackling Sexual Exploitation and Human Trafficking in Sport<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n [As Delivered]<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n 25 September 2023<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n \n Excellencies,<\/i><\/p>\n Director of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵODC New York Office,<\/i><\/p>\n Dear colleagues,<\/i><\/p>\n \n I very much appreciate the kind invitation to join you this afternoon and I commend the organizers for focusing our attention on human trafficking, which remains cause for grave concern.<\/p>\n \n Indeed, the numbers bespeak the enormity of the problem.<\/p>\n \n \n This is, quite frankly, deplorable.<\/p>\n \n \u201cOur lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter,\u201d words so aptly spoken by Martin Luther King.<\/p>\n \n We simply must do\u00a0better<\/b>\u00a0to protect our children.<\/p>\n \n Children are particularly vulnerable due to social and economic conditions, including\u00a0poverty and humanitarian crises.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Lack of access to education only exacerbates their risk.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And where children are fortunate enough to have digital technologies, these tools are often used against them.\u00a0<\/span>Victims are lured into danger on social media, many of them young, aspiring athletes, or others simply reaching for a dream.<\/p>\n \n Criminals take advantage of these dreams to deceive children and youth with empty promises of better opportunities.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Traffickers are known to prey on children when their parents or guardians struggle to support their households \u2013 a fact we need to better account for in humanitarian and development support.<\/p>\n \n The 2030 Agenda calls on Member States to take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking, and secure the elimination of the worst forms of child labour.<\/p>\n \n Yet, like all of the SDGs,\u00a0our progress\u00a0is off track.<\/p>\n \n It is the responsibility of each of us, driven not only by our shared humanity but also by the undeniable reality that trafficking affects every country worldwide, whether as a source, transit, or destination for victims.<\/p>\n \n As President of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ General Assembly, I call on Member States to effectively implement the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Protocol against Trafficking in Persons.<\/p>\n \n This includes investing in prevention, awareness-raising, and early-detection of victims, as well as guaranteeing their safety and protection.<\/p>\n \n We must invest more in equipping law enforcement personnel with the skills and knowledge they need to better respond to emerging threats, including online.<\/p>\n \n At the same time, we must leverage the opportunities that technology offers us, using it to track down \u2013 and dismantle \u2013 trafficking networks.<\/p>\n \n In a world grappling with multiple interconnected crises, victims of trafficking often remain unheard and unseen.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n Let us shine a light on their situation.<\/p>\n \n Let us redouble our efforts to prevent this heinous crime and protect those who are most vulnerable.<\/p>\n \n I thank<\/b>\u00a0the organizers for raising awareness about human trafficking, and I look forward to working with partners on this key issue during my Presidency.<\/p>\n \n Thank you.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Remarks by the President of the 78th session of the General Assembly,\u00a0\u00a0 Mr. Dennis Francis,\u00a0\u00a0 at the\u00a0Side Event on Technological Solutions on Tackling Sexual Exploitation and Human Trafficking in Sport […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":361,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[111],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-272666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-speeches","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n\n