At the conclusion of its eighth meeting, Dr Mohammed Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and head of the UAE NCCHT, said, “The UAE’s support for and participation in the UNGIFT (Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking) at Vienna reflects our commitment to fight transnational human trafficking by linking it with international efforts. We are now engaged in actively following up on the success of the Vienna Forum in raising the international profile of trafficking and building partnerships with organisations and NGOs to achieve this goal. Through the generous $ 15 million donation of General Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, the UAE was the catalyst for a global initiative to fight trafficking.”
The committee discussed a strategy for utilising the links and partnerships forged in Vienna with the UN Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in order to initiate specialised training programmes for UAE’s law-enforcement officers.
The committee also discussed the need to strengthen partnerships with the international NGO sector for knowledge exchange and international best practice in caring for victims.
The committee praised the partnerships that were forged by the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children with their counterparts in other countries during the Vienna forum.
Dr Gargash stated, “The Dubai Foundation for Women and Children is a tangible and concrete example of the UAE’s commitment to support victims and we are proud of the work that this organisation is undertaking. It has successfully dealt with a number of cases since its inception and it is run by UAE national women who are committed, bright and constantly striving to keep the foundation up to date with international best practice.”
Statistics from the Dubai Foundation show that they have dealt with a total of 28 suspected victims of trafficking between October 2007 and March 2008.
