Vienna to host conf-erence on human trafficking

New Delhi, Feb 12 (UNI) Employers and trade unionists will come together to focus attention on the critical issue of human trafficking and the role of employers and workers in combating the menace within supply chains at the three-day Vienna Forum to Fight Human Trafficking beginning in Vienna, Austria, from February 13.

The ILO will on the occasion announce launch of a new joint initiative with the European Union to improve national statistics on human trafficking.

The Vienna Forum, organised by UN, provides intergovernmental agencies a unique platform to bring together representatives of member states, non-governmental and international organisations, business and the public sector to generate support for the U N Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT).

The ILO will use the opportunity to renew its call for a global alliance against forced labour.

At least 2.4 million people are trafficked for forced labour around the world, nearly half, or 43 per cent, for sexual exploitation, 32 per cent for labour exploitation and 25 per cent for a mixture of both. Half the victims of trafficking are under 18, according to ILO estimates, a press release here said.

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