On Wednesday September 20, a side event on “Raising Awareness on Contemporary Slavery” took place from 3 to 4 pm at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The event was organized by the Sovereign Order of Malta in collaboration with IOM and cosponsored by the Permanent Missions to the United Nations in Geneva of Colombia, Liechtenstein and United States of America.

The panel was composed by:

• H.E. Michel VEUTHEY (Moderator), Ambassador of the Sovereign Order of Malta to monitor and combat trafficking in persons. Introduction and conclusion.
• Dr.Berta FERNÁNDEZ-ALFARO, IOM Chief of Mission, Coordination Office for Switzerland and Liechtenstein. IOM’s role in the prevention of Contemporary Slavery.
• H.E. Cindy DYER, Ambassador at large, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, U.S. Department of State. The impact of the annual TIP Report.
• Prof. Tomoya OBOKATA, Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, Human Rights Council. His activity as Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery.
• Ms. Alice ECKSTEIN, Project Director for the Finance Against Slavery and Trafficking (FAST) Initiative. The work of FAST and the importance of the financial sector in combating modern slavery.

The event was both in person and hybrid, and was attended by 14 Permanent Missions (Australia, Canada, Colombia, Dominican Republic, European Union, Holy See, Liechtenstein, Malta, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Sovereign Order of Malta, United States of America) and more than 50 persons.

Here is the full recorded event.