PRINT

EU Statement – UN General Assembly 3rd Committee: Interactive dialogue on trafficking in persons, especially women and children

31.10.2025
New York

31 October 2025, New York – European Union Statement at the United Nations General Assembly 80th Session Third Committee Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, Ms. Siobhán Mullally

 

Chair,

 

I have the honor to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

 

We would like to express our support for your mandate, Ms. Mullally, and thank you for the presentation of your insightful report. 

 

We share your concern regarding the heightened risks of trafficking in persons in situation of armed conflict and forced displacement. Children are among the most vulnerable in conflict and post-conflict situations, to human rights violations  including violence. As you note in your report, child trafficking is very prevalent in conflict situations, and impunity for these crimes remains the norm. As staunch supporters of the children and armed conflict (CAAC) agenda, we are deeply concerned by the interlinkages you showed between grave violations committed against children and their co-occurrence with child trafficking, both online and offline. In this regard we join your call to ensure the comprehensive application of international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and international criminal law, and reaffirm our support for the international criminal justice system in its entirety, noting the important role of the International Criminal Court, and UN investigative bodies. 

 

How can Member States work to ensure that the issue of child trafficking is given due consideration in the CAAC agenda?

 

Madam Special Rapporteur,

 

You also emphasise the importance of child responsive and gender-responsive justice procedures for survivors of child trafficking, including for children with disabilities. 

 

What are some of the best practices and mechanisms to ensure accessible, survivor-centered pathways to justice for victims of conflict-related child trafficking, particularly in contexts where legal systems are weak or disrupted by ongoing violence?

 

To conclude, we look forward to the forthcoming high-level meeting on the appraisal of the United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons this November, as well as the adoption of the Political Declaration that includes language on child trafficking as one of the enduring trafficking issues, as identified by GA Resolution 79/286.

 

Thank you.