Putting people first in development; Third Committee: Social, Humanitarian and Cultural.

• Position: 59th General Assembly - UN General Assembly about human rights

The Third Committee deals with myriad topics related to social development, advancement of women, international drug control and human rights issues. Delegates meet, discuss and debate these issues and work to forge resolutions that enjoy unanimous support, or if this is not possible can be voted upon.

On the recommendation of the Third Committee, the General Assembly during its fifty-ninth session, passed 66 resolutions, 46 of which were adopted unanimously and only 10 had more than 5 votes cast against them. "The majority of these proposals, primarily of social, humanitarian and cultural character, were adopted by consensus", Committee Chairman Valeriy P. Kuchinsky of Ukraine told the UN Chronicle. It was the country-specific resolutions pertaining to human rights issues that were heavily debated, he said.

It is estimated that about 1 million persons are shipped across and within national borders to be sold into modern-day slavery, Marie Yvette Banzon of the Philippines told the Chronicle (see page 56). Of this number, women and girls comprise a staggering majority, fuelling a billion-dollar sex industry. The United Nations Children's Fund estimates that more than 200,000 children are enslaved through cross-border smuggling in West and Central Africa. They are often sold by unsuspecting parents who believe their children are going to be looked after, learn a trade or be educated, only to be forced to work as prostitutes, abused labourers or servants.

On the important issue of trafficking, the Assembly adopted by consensus the resolution on "Trafficking in women and girls". Since 1995 when the Philippines first led the tabling and negotiations on a draft on trafficking, the text has enjoyed the broadest support from UN Member States. "The resolution is one of the international tools that has provided a basis and guidance for action by Governments, international bodies and civil society to combat the trafficking problem", according to Ms. Banzon. It was when the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, came into existence in 2000 that the resolution's content was strengthened to include the Convention's legal and juridical principles. The text "aims to complement the force of the Trafficking Protocol by highlighting the vulnerability, needs and concerns of the majority of the victims of trafficking, she said. While also expressing concern about the situation of male victims, the resolution points to the strategic importance and value of adopting a gender-based approach to effectively combat the trafficking problem, Ms. Banzon added. This year, a significant development was the inclusion of language pointing out the need to address the demand which fuels the trafficking of victims. "The debate on the issue of demand has always been wrought by the divergence of interests between countries of origin and destination", she said. For that reason, negotiating this resolution has not always been an easy task. However, the Protocol as the international legal instrument and the adopted text can constitute an effective and strategic foundation for action by all concerned to eliminate this modern-day slavery.

The Assembly also adopted without a vote the resolution "Protection of migrants"...