SAINT LUCIA WILL CONTINUE TO PARTNER WITH OAS TO STRENGTHEN ANTI-HUMAN TRAFFICKING MECHANISMS.
Officials from the Department of Home Affairs represented the island at the Seventh Meeting of National Authorities on Trafficking in Persons, on Feb. 5 and 6 in Washington D.C.
The meeting convened at the OAS Headquarters, and took place under the chairmanship of Ambassador Cindy Dyer, Ambassador-at-large, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, U.S. Department of State. This international forum not only explored priorities to prevent and combat Human Trafficking but also identified best practices in dealing with this heinous crime.
Plenary sessions discussed a number of issues including: the use of technology to recruit and exploit victims and to prevent human trafficking, the impact of environmental changes on vulnerability to trafficking in persons, money laundering as a vector of human trafficking and links between trafficking in persons and other forms of transnational organized crime.
Saint Lucia’s delegation comprised of the Permanent Secretary in the Department of Home Affairs Dr. Elizabeth Bailey and Legal Consultant Ms. Charlotte Tessa Mangal. Permanent Secretary Dr. Bailey indicated the necessity of member states including Saint Lucia sharing the progress of their national Trafficking in persons programmes.
She noted that Saint Lucia will continue to partner with the Organization of American States (OAS) in strengthening mechanisms to combat the crime of Human Trafficking via a new project which will be launched in the first quarter of 2024. She suggested that the project will be pivotal to contributing to the Prevention of Sexual Violence against Migrant Women and Girls in the Americas and the Caribbean region.
The seventh Meeting of National Authorities on Trafficking in Persons brought together 27 member states from the Americas and Caribbean region.