Egypt marks UN World Day against Trafficking in Persons

CAIRO – 31 July 2021: Egypt's Permanent Representative for the United Nations Mohamed Edris marked on Friday the United Nations World Day against Trafficking in Persons marked on 30 July.

The day is organized by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in cooperation with the Group of Friends United Against Human Trafficking, which Egypt has contributed to its establishment, a statement by the foreign ministry read.

The event gathered countries’ representatives, UN authorities concerned with human trafficking and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) concerned with providing assistance to the trafficking victims.

A part of the event focused on listening to the testimonies of the human trafficking victims so that they contribute to spreading awareness of the forms of this crime and the way to ask for assistance to face it.

The Egyptian Cabinet on Friday also displayed Egypt’s efforts to combat human trafficking over the past half decade on the occasion of the United Nations World Day against Trafficking in Persons marked on 30 July.

Among these efforts is the launch of the national strategy to combat human trafficking 2016-2021, the National Coordinating Committee for Combating and Preventing Illegal Migration and Trafficking in Persons in 2017.

Egypt also launched a national campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of human trafficking in May 2019, under the slogan “Together against Human Trafficking”.

The campaign aimed at defining all forms of this crime in Egypt, including forced labor, sexual exploitation, exploitation of homeless children and trafficking in human organs.

The campaign urged citizens to report such cases and informed them of these crimes’ penalties.

In November last year, Egypt established the first shelter to receive women and children victimized in human trafficking crimes.

Egypt’s National Council for Human Rights also set up a new hotline to receive reports and complaints against human trafficking.

According to the Cabinet, 35 percent of the forced labor victims worldwide are women and 50 percent of the human trafficking victims are targeted due to the economic need.

Around third of the victims detected are children, the Cabinet said.