OREANDA-NEWS. September 24, 2010. A Belarus-sponsored meeting of the Group of Friends United against Human Trafficking, of which the Russian Federation is also a member, was held during the 65th session of the UN General Assembly in New York on September 22. The Group also comprises Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Nicaragua, Nigeria, the Philippines, Qatar, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Venezuela.

The Group of Friends is an informal association established to help reinvigorate global efforts to combat human trafficking, one of whose tasks was to promote the development of the United Nations’ Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons (adopted by UN General Assembly resolution 64/293 on July 30, 2010).

The Global Plan includes measures to prevent human trafficking, protect and assist victims of the trafficking, punish the relevant crimes and strengthen partner cooperation in this area. This document summarized the long-running debate over the need to develop a UN ‘road map’ in combating human trafficking and became the practical implementation of the initiative of Belarus to form a global partnership in this area.

The event, in addition to representatives of all twenty members of the Group, was attended by Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Yuri Fedotov; President of the 64th session of the General Assembly Ali Treki; Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Portugal Joao Cravinho, and the Permanent Representatives of Portugal and Cape Verde to the UN – countries which were coordinators for the development of the Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons.

The meeting adopted a Ministerial Declaration which expresses the political will to facilitate the implementation of the Global Plan, including by the Group of Friends, highlights the importance of a rights-based approach in combating trafficking in persons while focusing mainly on the rights of victims of this criminal business, and notes the coordinating role of UNODC in the area of synchronization of efforts by all stakeholders.

In the ensuing debate, participants examined issues relating to future plans of the Group of Friends and the promotion of the Global Plan, as well as cooperation in combating human trafficking.

The Russian Federation at the event was represented by Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Yakovenko, who informed the audience about the Russian approaches to combating trafficking in persons, praised the Group's activities and called for imparting to such meetings a regular character.