The issue of trafficking needs to be addressed in hard economic terms if we are going to make practical headway in stamping out this unacceptable scourge. The International Labour Organization (ILO) is working together with different sectors of society to make our contribution to the millennium development goals of harbouring extreme poverty to eradicate all forced labour including trafficking by 2015. This is a huge challenge, and we know it is absolutely key to involve the private sector in all activities on trafficking, whether prevention, law enforcement, or the rehabilitation of victims.
So far, concerns about the scale and extent of this problem have insufficiently caught the attention of business leaders. ILO’s action plan envisages a very significant role for the private sector together with government worker organizations and other civil society partners. The Athens Roundtable is a vital step to get the initial business commitment and to take this further forward in high profile international forums. We thank the business community for their attention in advance for their commitment to this difficult but necessary task.