Didier Reynders and the Red Panthers support the Blue Heart Campaign in the fight against trafficking of people

Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Didier Reynders met with the national female grass hockey team in Wilrijk. His visit to the Red Panthers is part of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s « Blue Heart Campaign », launched on July 2 and ending on July 30, the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons.

The United Nations wanted to actively involve Belgium in this campaign. Since 2018 Belgium is indeed the largest donor to the United Nations Trust Fund for Victims of Human Trafficking (€ 2 millions). This Fund offers direct and efficient assistance and support to the victims of human trafficking.

The Belgian State is a signatory of the « Blue Heart Campaign » since the 28th session of the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) that took place on May 20 in Vienna, and is therefore committed to the fight against human trafficking. Our country is co-facilitator of the UN Action Plan Against Human Trafficking and is continuously engaged in this domain as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.

More broadly, this action is part of the Sustainable Development Goals Agenda, and more particularly the eradication of forced labour and sexual exploitation, the elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls, and the elimination of their exploitation.

 

 

Because human trafficking tramples on all democratic values, Didier Reynders and the Red Panthers have decided to attest Belgium’s support to the UN campaign by wearing a blue heart, symbolizing the despair of the victims of all forms of modern slavery. Their gesture will be broadly circulated in order to raise awareness on the situation of human trafficking’s victims.