During their third day of committee and after finalizing debate on their second topic of “Mitigating the Impact of Disruptions on Education,” the Human Rights Council (HRC) moved to their third topic of “Ensuring Access to Services for Victims of Human Trafficking.” Both France and the USA delegations stepped forward to speak about the international security threats that human trafficking poses to all states and the need for non-discriminatory victim support. The delegation of France called upon the body to increase prosecutive investigations against those in the human trafficking industry, defining human trafficking as a security issue at international, regional, & global levels, and continued to remind the council of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in the 2030 agenda under human trafficking. The Malaysian delegation commented to concur with France’s strong legal stance. USA delegation advocated for multilateral efforts of further enforcing human rights on behalf of human trafficking victims and increasing victim support & cooperation with both regional and international authorities. Almost immediately after the two delegates spoke, the HRC called for a p27, breaking into two large groups to begin discussing resolutions. Member states hold concerns with maintaining a balance of respecting member state sovereignty, increasing human trafficking penalties for people prosecuted with human trafficking crimes, further ensuring protections for women & girls globally, and continuing to recognize the atrocities that are regularly committed through human trafficking. Issues regarding regionally collected trafficking reports and the prioritization of countries with higher trafficking rates became hot topics of discussion as preambular statements began reaching paper.

The HRC called a second p27 at 2:59 PM for another hour of suspension to allow the committee time to continue resolution negotiations. Throughout their suspension, the HRC is hard at work submitting their first working paper drafts to their dais, seemingly hopeful to have them sent before the dinner break in two hours.

Casey Figone
World Press Reporter