General Assembly: 48th plenary meeting, 80th session

General Assembly: 48th plenary meeting, 80th session

• Opening segment;
• Action on draft resolution (A/80/L.8)
• Statements 

Objectives: This year marks the fifteenth anniversary of the Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, adopted in 2010, at a High-Level Meeting of the General Assembly. This appraisal takes place every four years and creates a platform for world leaders and stakeholders to assess the progress made in combating human trafficking. It provides an opportunity to evaluate achievements, identify gaps, and renew commitments to eradicate this grave violation of human rights. 

Through inclusive dialogue and collaborative action, the high-level meeting aims to strengthen global efforts, enhance accountability, and ensure that strategies are responsive to the evolving challenges of human trafficking. The high-level meeting will consist of plenary meetings (including an opening segment and a closing segment), held under agenda item 107 (Crime prevention and criminal justice), and two consecutive interactive panel discussions. 

The political declaration on the implementation of the Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons will be adopted at the opening segment. The General Assembly kicks off a two-day high-level meeting on the appraisal of the United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons. 

The meeting is being held under the Assembly’s agenda item on crime prevention and criminal justice and pursuant to resolution 79/286. The 193-member body is expected to adopt the 2025 Political Declaration on the Implementation of the UN Global Plan, contained in document A/80/L.8). 
 

In the morning, Annalena Baerbock (Germany), President of the General Assembly; Guy Ryder, Under-Secretary-General for Policy; Ilias Chatzis, Acting Chief of the Organized Crime Branch of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC); Siobhán Mullally, Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children; Mira Sorvino, Board Member of the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking in Persons; and Shamere McKenzie, CEO of the Sun Gate Foundation and a trafficking survivor, will speak. 

The afternoon will feature two interactive dialogues. 

The first will focus on the Global Plan of Action and enduring trafficking issues and gaps which should, among other things, address the current challenges, gaps and opportunities in implementing the Global Plan, including child trafficking, trafficking for forced labour and the link between trafficking in persons and organized crime groups. Panellists will include: Karin Herrera, Vice-President of Guatemala; Meredith Dank of NYU Marron Institute of Urban Management; and Ilias Chatzis, Chief of UNODC’s Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section. 

The second panel will focus on the Global Plan and emerging issues, such as trafficking in persons through new technologies, including the role of artificial intelligence (AI), and trafficking for forced criminality. Panellists will include: Kari Johnstone, Special Representative and Coordinator for Combating Human Trafficking of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE); Shawnna Hoffman, Chief Executive Officer of the International Center for Missing & Exploited Children; and Abdus Salam, a Survivor Leadership Specialist.