Spotlights on Pressing Issues in Covid19 Times & Solutions with Regard to Agenda 2030

“As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads across the globe, we are seeing alarming patterns. The poorest and most vulnerable members of society are being hardest hit, both by the pandemic and the response”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned the international community. In current times of crisis, inequality and discrimination heighten the risks of abuse and severe exploitation for those who are most vulnerable: Marginalized communities, migrant workers, people in low paid and exploitative jobs. Also, law enforcement agencies, government and non-government organizations (NGOs) globally have expressed concerns regarding the impact COVID-19 measures may have on crimes against children. COVID-19 appears to be hampering or even setting back the implementation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in many areas.  As a response to COVID-19 UN Secretary-General António Guterres emphasizes particulary: “We need to turn the recovery into a real opportunity to do things right for the future.”

A couple of months into the pandemic, what do we know about the challenging situation of trafficked persons and those vulnerable to trafficking, exploitation and abuse? What new ideas and alliances are there, possibly accelerated by Covid 19, to help trafficked persons and to change the structures that make human trafficking possible, also with regard to the worldwide implementation of the 17 SDGs?

In light of the European Day against Human Trafficking, the German NGO Network Against Trafficking in Human Beings, KOK, together with ECPAT Germany, as part of the global networks of NGOs working toward Ending the Sexual Exploitation of Children, invite the GLAC community and others to discuss above mentioned issues.