Side Event as part of the High Level Meeting of the General Assembly for the UN Global Plan of Action against Trafficking in Persons

Organizer

Co-organizer

When addressing human trafficking, the map of traditional stakeholders is usually quite clear and it includes the obvious actors, both public and private, such as law enforcement, social services, magistrates, CSO’s and companies that have traditionally been associated with the issue. But what if reaching the tipping point in a multi-lateral approach means becoming more creative with the partnerships we pursue? What if some of the most unlikely allies actually hold the key to better detection and notification of cases, as well as better accountability in the private sector?

Speakers

Ioana Bauer

Romania

Ioana Bauer is the president of eLiberare, an NGO working on preventing and combatting human trafficking and sexual exploitation. She has been active in the area of protecting human rights and dignity since 2005, and, besides leading and shaping prevention activities, developing materials on the issue and conducting capacity building activities, Ioana has worked directly with survivors of human trafficking.

Ioana is passionate about fighting injustice and is a firm believer in the power of community and collective action. Ioana is an Ashoka Fellow, a Resilience Fellow, and is recognized as one of the women leaders advancing the UN SDGs globally.

John Cotton Richmond

USA

John Cotton Richmond is a partner in Dentons’ Federal Regulatory and Compliance practice. John coordinated the US Government’s efforts to combat trafficking on a global scale, working with multi-lateral institutions, law enforcement, and leading Fortune 100 executives to develop effective strategies to address supply chain integrity, trafficking in persons, and criminal prosecutions and investigations. After being unanimously confirmed by the Senate, he served as the US Ambassador to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons from 2018 to 2021. Serving in the nation’s highest ranking position dedicated to human trafficking, he led US foreign policy related to modern slavery and coordinated the US government’s response the crime.

For more information, please access: https://johncottonrichmond.com/

Summer Walker

USA

Summer Walker is the Global Initiative’s New York Representative and a Senior Analyst. She leads projects and provides research and analysis on international policy, with issues ranging from drug policy to cybercrime. As NY Representative, she engages with the United Nations and government missions to bring the research and innovative approaches of GI and its Network of Experts to multilateral policy debates. She has worked in international policy for many years both at the UN, and with international NGOs, development agencies and research institutes. During 2015-2016, she worked at United Nations University, directing a drug policy project ahead of the 2016 UN General Assembly special session on the world drug problem, and contributing to the human trafficking in conflict agenda at the Security Council.

Marie Ringler

AUSTRIA

Marie Ringler is leading Ashoka’s work in Europe. She founded Ashoka’s Austrian office in 2011 and soon took over Regional Director for Central and Eastern Europe.

In 2015 she became one of Ashoka’s Europe Directors, in 2018 she was appointed European Leader of Ashoka. She was born in Vienna, studied Sociology, Political Science and Women`s Studies at the University of Vienna, and holds a degree from ESADE Business School, Spain and an MBA from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland.

For more information, please visit: https://ashoka-cee.org/austria/en/team/marie-ringler-2/.

Iulia Motoc

ROMANIA

Iulia Motoc is a Judge at the European Court of Human Rights and a Professor at the University of Bucharest where she teaches public international law, international protection of human rights and European law. She is also a member of the Institut de Droit International. She extensively publishes in the field of International law, human rights and European law.

She is a former judge of the Constitutional Court of Romania, former Vice-President of the United Nations Human Rights Committee and she was also a UN Special Rapporteur.

Richard Pugh-Cook

UK

Richard Pugh-Cook is the SOCnet Regional Coordinator for the South Asia region and First Secretary Political based in the British High Commission, New Delhi India. SOCnet is the UK’s upstream policy response to Serious and Organised crime threats including Trafficking in Human Beings. Richard has substantial experience in the Law Enforcement operational field working with UK Immigration Service and NCIS against trafficking in the UK (1997-2006), South Asia (2006 -2014) and Europe (2019-21) . Richard has specialised in Threat and Response programmes to tackle the perpetrators and protect the victims working with CSOs on innovative programming, a whole of government approach and a collaborative approach with victims’ source and destination countries.

Anna Ekstedt

Sweden

Anna Ekstedt was appointed as Sweden’s Ambassador at Large for Combating Trafficking in Persons in April 2021.
Anna Ekstedt has a legal background (L.L.M) with an extensive experience of working in counter trafficking and with issues of gender equality and human rights in Sweden as well as internationally.
Anna Ekstedt was appointed as Sweden’s Ambassador at Large for Combating Trafficking in Persons in April 2021. She has been heading the activities against trafficking within the CBSS TF-THB (Council of the Baltic Sea States Task Force against Trafficking in human Beings) and has served at the European Commission at the EU Anti-trafficking Coordinator in Brussels. She has previously also worked at the IOM (International Organization for Migration) in Turkey and the Swedish Migration Agency. Anna Ekstedt has held various responsibilities in national coordination against trafficking and was part of the Committee responsible for setting up the Swedish Gender Equality Agency.