Security Council resolution on the fight against trafficking in persons in conflict situations

This resolution was adopted at a Council meeting chaired by the President of the Government of Spain, Mariano Rajoy, on the occasion of a high-level debate for all members of the United Nations which included briefings, among others, from the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon; the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Yury Fedotov; the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sexual Violence in Conflict, Zainab Bangura; and, as representatives of victims, Ameena Saeed Hasan and Nadia Murad, Sakharov Prize-winner 2016.

The resolution received widespread support, with co-sponsorship from 60 States.

Through this debate and subsequent resolution, Spain has headed up an in-depth reflection on the scourge of trafficking and ensured that the Security Council, as the maximum body responsible for international peacekeeping and security, speaks out on this issue for the first time.

Resolution 2331 focuses on the relationship between conflict and post-conflict situations and trafficking and tackles the use of trafficking as a terrorist and a war economy tactic by such terrorist groups as DAESH, Al Shabaab and Boko Haram.

Resolution 2331 calls on States and the corresponding international organizations (UNODC, the Counter-Terrorism Committee, UNCTAD, UNICEF, INTERPOL and the International Organization for Migration, among others) to adopt specific measures to halt trafficking by adopting legislation to this end at a national regulatory level in order to prevent, criminalise, investigate, prosecute and try those involved in these activities, take measures to prevent their funding, offer due care and assistance to the victims of these practices, and share information with other States with the aim of stemming the problem.

Following today's session and the approval of the resolution, the goals of the Spanish Presidency of the Security Council to hold three high-level debates which lead to three resolutions whose common thread is the prevention and fight against terrorism have now been accomplished. Spain's mandate on the Security Council will end on 31 December.