Activities of Michel Veuthey, Ambassador of the Order of Malta to combat human trafficking

Human trafficking, a form of modern-day slavery, is a global problem that affects men, women and children in every country on every continent. Today, we have more slaves than ever before in the history of humanity. According to data published by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the International Labor Organization (ILO) in 2022, nearly 50 million people are victims of trafficking worldwide, and this number is constantly growing. Contemporary slavery is a criminal trade that yields $236 billion in illicit profits annually through various forms of exploitation: forced labor (agriculture, fishing, construction, catering and hospitality), sexual slavery (prostitution, forced marriage, forced maternity, child pornography), organ theft and trafficking, forced criminality, as well as the worst forms of child labor and the sale and recruitment of children into armed forces. Through its diplomatic, humanitarian and medical commitment, the Order of Malta defends fundamental ethical values and implements the social doctrine of the Catholic Church to prevent and combat contemporary slavery.

Michel Veuthey studied law in Geneva and Munich. He worked at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from 1967 to 2000. Initially as a member of the Legal Division, he then headed the Division of International Organizations and held the post of General Delegate for Europe and North America, then Regional Delegate for Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean, based in South Africa, and finally served as Assistant to the President of the ICRC, Cornelio Sommaruga.

A member of the Swiss Association of the Order of Malta since 1986, in 2011 he was appointed Deputy Permanent Observer of the Order of Malta to the United Nations in Geneva. In July 2017, he was given the additional mandate of Ambassador for the fight against human trafficking.

He carries out this mission through the following activities:

– making statements at each session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on child victims of violence, children in armed conflicts and the sale of children and other forms of contemporary slavery;

– organizing webinars on the various aspects of human trafficking (the next, 46th, will be on Tuesday, March 11, on trafficking in sport, “Launch of the Mission 89 Global Thematic Report on Trafficking in Sport”). All these webinars are freely accessible on the website https://adlaudatosi.org

– organize events at the Palais des Nations in Geneva: a hybrid (face-to-face and online) side event will take place on Friday, March 28 from 12 to 1 p.m. to launch an online course by the Order of Malta on human trafficking with UNITAR (United Nations Institute for Training and Research). Those who would like to participate in this event on site can register via this link: https://indico.un.org/event/1016434 . Those who would like to follow online can register at www.adlaudatosi.org

– give a presentation on human trafficking at the meeting of the Hospitaliers de l’Ordre in Vienna in early April 2025

– publish articles on international humanitarian law and human trafficking

– give lectures on contemporary slavery in Geneva, Fribourg, Nice, San Remo, Barcelona and Malaga.

– organize a conference at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome on December 10 of this year to mark the 25th anniversary of the Palermo Protocol with Kevin Hyland OBE, the first British Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner. The conference aims to renew global commitments to prevent and combat human trafficking, to ensure that survivors receive the protection and support they need, and to find ways to use the profits confiscated from human trafficking and modern slavery to provide reparations and compensation to victims and survivors.

– to have a Mass celebrated for Saint Bakhita, Patron Saint of contemporary slaves,

every year on February 8th. The fight against contemporary slavery is indeed a spiritual battle.

The Ambassador’s activities can be followed

-on his website https://nohumantrafficking.orderofmalta.int/fr/

-on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michel-veuthey-9619702/