World Day Against Trafficking in Persons

On the World Day against Trafficking in Persons, the UN aims to create awareness about human trafficking and worldwide efforts to defeat this scourge..

n 2013, the UN member states adopted a resolution which designated July 30 as the World Day against Trafficking in Persons. They declared that such a day was necessary to “raise awareness of the situation of victims of human trafficking and for the promotion and protection of their rights.”

The Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons was adopted in 2010 and urges governments worldwide to take coordinated and consistent measures to defeat human trafficking in all its forms. The UN plan calls for integrating the fight against human trafficking into the UN’s broader programs to boost development and strengthen security worldwide.

Many Children Are Trafficked

Almost a third of all human trafficking victims worldwide are children, according to the Global Report on Trafficking in Persons released in December 2016 by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Women and girls comprise 71% of human trafficking victims, the same report states.

According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), around 21 million people are victims of forced labor globally, and of these, a significant number are also trafficking victims.

The UN plan calls for integrating the fight against human trafficking into the UN’s broader programs to boost development and strengthen security worldwide.

Serious Threat to Human Dignity

The UN resolution also states that trafficking in persons, especially women and children, constitutes an offense and a serious threat to human dignity and physical integrity, human rights, and development. Despite sustained measures taken at the international, regional, and national levels, trafficking in persons remains one of the grave challenges facing the international community, which also impairs the enjoyment of human rights and needs a more concerted international response.

According to the 2016 UN report, women and girls tend to be trafficked for marriages and sexual slavery, while men and boys are typically exploited for forced labor in the mining sector, as porters, and as soldiers. It also states that refugees from war and persecution are particularly vulnerable to becoming victims of human trafficking.

World Nature Conservation Day 2018

World Nature Conservation Day

Celebrated on July 28 each year, World Nature Conservation Day recognizes that a healthy environment is the foundation for a stable and productive society and to ensure the well-being of present and future generations, we all must participate to protect, conserve, and sustainably manage our natural resources.

We all depend on natural resources like water, air, soil, minerals, trees, animals, food, and gas to live our daily lives.

To keep the balance in the natural world, we must also help various species to continue to exist. A report from the global conservation organization World Wildlife Foundation suggests that since 1970, the pressure that we exert on the planet has doubled and the resources upon which we depend have declined by 33 percent. Despite the efforts put into conservation by organizations and conservation activists, their work has been undermined by those who have interests.

Conservation of nature is very important, with scientists warning of mass extinctions in the near future. Many nature documentaries show resources that are being wasted. We have made this planet a world of steel and concrete to sustain humanity but at the cost of other species, and it has become more imperative upon us to conserve these resources that are vital to human survival.

Trees and plants consume carbon which has increased the planet's temperature, increased storms and sea level rises and freshwater glacier melting that threatens lives. Glaciers are connected to rivers and lakes which we depend on for drinking water through city/town/community services (where did you think your water came from?). Birds, bees and other insects pollinate the plants we need to eat to stay healthy nutritionally. Factory foods provide reduced quality in favor of the financial incentive. Children who spend time exercising their senses in nature have been shown to increase their skills at a faster rate than those who don't. Our planet provides us with all of the resources that modern exploitation have given us, through wood, medecin, water, plants and animals to eat, metals, vitamins, minerals - yet it's exploited for money with systems of varied complexity. Nature has given us SO much. If we don't conserve, we lose these precious privileges to exploitation and abuse of resources.

The natural world is facing an increasing threat from unsustainable practices and the challenge is how to preserve and conserve nature in the process of achieving sustainable development.

The state of nature has an impact on human survival, local and global economics, community life, human health and wellbeing.

On this day, let us make a conscious effort to contribute to the local, national, and global efforts in conserving nature and the benefits they provide for the present and future generations.