We gather here today, united in our determination to eliminate the

scourge of forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking.

Modern slavery exists in all our societies. It respects neither borders
nor jurisdictions. Its victims are subject to the most appalling
mistreatment and exploitation.

It is hard to bring out into the open and defeat something which has
persisted for so many years in the shadows, but we have a duty as
leaders to do so, and if we are to succeed, it will require our concerted
efforts, our efforts at home, but also internationally, to drive and to
deliver a coherent global response.

Now, all of you here today have demonstrated leadership on this

issue, and I look forward to hearing more from you. But before that, I
just wanted to offer some very brief words about what the Republic of
Uruguay is doing to address these crimes.

The Uruguayan government sustained prevention efforts during the

reporting period; most of these efforts focused on sex trafficking. The
Ministry of Social Development continued to chair an interagency
committee that coordinated government anti-trafficking efforts; it met
on a monthly basis in 2011. This committee focused almost
exclusively on sex trafficking of adult women, and it reportedly drafted
a protocol to establish an interagency framework for action. Another
committee on the commercial and non-commercial sexual exploitation
of minors met every other week. Authorities forged a partnership with
an NGO to train 30 journalists on human trafficking, and the Ministry
of Tourism continued an awareness campaign at the airport and
border control stations on commercial sexual exploitation of girls,
furthermore, authorities provided anti-trafficking training to Uruguayan
troops prior to their deployment on international peacekeeping
missions during the year.

The task is an urgent one, so we need swiftly to put our words into
practice and hold ourselves to account for progress. Thank you and
the Delegate of Uruguay looks forward to drafting a fruitful resolution
at the end of this conference.