In connection with the 60th Session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, the permanent missions of Australia, Costa Rica, Congo, Germany, Libyan Arab Jamahiriy, Nigeria, Philippines, and Poland and the Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights met today to discuss a proposal that the Commission appoint a new Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children. See the schedule of meetings for the 60th Session here. A recent article published through the Asian Centre for Human Rights suggests that the Special Rapporteur on Trafficking will be mandated to gather and exchange information from governments, non-governmental organizations and victims of trafficking in order to propose appropriate measures to prevent and remedy trafficking violations. In addition, the Special Rapporteur could report to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights on trafficking patterns which require immediate intervention, and would be able to advise UN and national governing bodies on how to streamline their anti-trafficking programs for greater effectiveness.
In an article through the United Nations news service, Juan Miguel Petit, Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Pornography, expressed his support for the creation of this new post. He remarked that the Special Rapporteurs will have to closely coordinate to avoid a duplication of efforts. To this effect, he suggested that the post not be limited to the issue of trafficking in women and girl children for purposes of sexual exploitation, and that the post have a determined geographic (rather than world-wide) scope.