President Degn participates in panel on combating trafficking in human beings

(handel med kvinder og børn)

Tyrkiets minister for Kvindeanliggender, Helle Degn og Hillary Rodham Clinton lytter til  Knut Vollebæk OSCE Chairman-in-Office

On 18 November, President Helle Degn participated in the panel on the role of the OSCE in Combating Trafficking in Human Beings. The panel, led by Chairman-in-Office Knut Vollebaek, was held on the margins of the Istanbul Summit and included presentations by Ms. Ruth Dreifuss, President of the Swiss Confederation, Mr. Andris Skele, Prime Minister of Latvia, Ms Tarja Halonen, Foreign Minister of Finland, Ambassador GŽrard Stoudmann, Director of ODIHR, Ms. Stana Buchowska, representing the La Strada Foundation against Trafficking in Women, and Mrs. Hillary Rodham Clinton, First Lady of the United States.

More pictures of panel members (Hillary Clinton, Tarja Halonen, GŽrard Stoudmann, Ruth Dreifuss m.fl.. Click here ..

Hillary Clinton's tur til at tale om de små piger, som af fattige forældre sælges til prostitution eller ægteskab.

President Degn focused her presentation on the role of parliamentarians and recalled that during its Eighth Annual Session last July in St. Petersburg, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly unanimously adopted a Resolution condemning trafficking in women and children. "By adopting this Resolution," she said, "the Parliamentary Assembly has contributed to the visibility of this issue, while in addition the Resolution can also serve as a point of reference for discussion in parliaments and for NGOs throughout the OSCE area."

Mrs. Degn emphasized the special role that parliamentarians have to play in combating trafficking in human beings. Not only can they pass or even initiate the necessary legislative steps, but they can also alert the public. Moreover, parliamentarians can work to establish special parliamentary committees that advise legislative and administrative authorities, control the implementation of measures against criminality and allocate governmental funds for the combat of organized international crime, including the trafficking in people. According to President Degn the issue of trafficking in people needs more attention on both the national and international political scenes.

"I intend to follow up on the Resolution adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly this year by putting this item high on the agenda of our next Annual Session in the year 2000. I also encourage all my colleagues to debate this issue in their national parliaments and to demand action", said Mrs. Degn.

Panelet består af (fra højre mod venstre): Tarje Hallonen, Udenrigsminister, Finland og nu Præsidentkandidat med store chancer for at blive Finlands næste Præsident,  Ruth Dreifuss, Præsident, Schweiz, Knut Vollebæk, Udenrigsminister, Norge og daværende CiOffice, Hillary Clinton, First Lady of USA, Helle Degn /MF, Præsident for OSCE PA, Tyrkiets minister for Kvindeanliggender, Ambassadør GŽrard Stoudmann, ODIHR