On November 21st and 22nd, the 28th International Humanitarian and Security Conference took place in Geneve at the CICG. The Conference was supported by the ICRC, UNHCR and the High Patronage of the Government of the Canton of Geneva.
At the beginning of the Conference, Volker Türk, High Commissioner of the United Nations for Human Rights and Gillian Triggs, Assistant High Commissioner and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees took the floor. Mr Türk’s address focused on anchoring solutions in human rights in the framework of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights while Ms Triggs intervened on the rights of asylum 75 years after the UDHR in the context of conflicts, climate and crises.
H.E. Prof. Michel Veuthey, Ambassador to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons,
chaired Session 1 “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights – A Critical Assessment”. He began the session by reminding the community that not enough progress has been made. We must work to ensure that the UDHR is upheld, and the atrocities of war are held at bay
Furthermore, he was a keynote speaker in Session 6 “Human Rights, Migration, Climate Change and the Environment”. His intervention focused on “Human Trafficking, exacerbated by migration, climate change, armed conflict and environmental destruction: one of the worst human rights violation”. In his presentation, Professor Veuthey emphasized that human trafficking is intensified by a range of interconnected factors, such as migration, climate change, armed conflict, and environmental destruction. Consequently, it becomes clear that human trafficking ranks among the most egregious human rights violations of our era. He delved into the diverse aspects and definitions of human trafficking, as well as the various international legal instruments currently in place, suggesting that their implementation mechanisms could be more effectively employed to prevent and combat human trafficking during times of armed conflict. He concluded his presentation by underscoring the imperative to transition from rhetoric to concrete action.
You can find HERE the full recorded intervention.
