Although African countries face challenges in effectively responding to all forms of modern slavery, many countries in the region are taking steps to strengthen their responses. Improvements in the legislative framework have occurred across the region with some notable examples. Cote d'Ivoire, Morocco, and Tunisia enacted comprehensive trafficking legislation in 2016- a new development since the 2016 Global Slavery Index. As a result, in 2017, nearly 70 percent of African countries had criminalised human trafficking, an increase from the nearly 60 percent reported in the previous Global Slavery Index in 2016.

While no government has a fully comprehensive response to modern slavery, all countries in the Americas region have either mantained or improved their response. Most notably, the United States has retained its position as demonstrating the strongest response to modern slavery in the region, and the strongest response globally to prevent governments and business from sourcing goods and services linked to modern slavery. The United States is joined by Argentina and Chile, both of wich have made improvements that result in the highest government response ratings in the Americas region of "BBB". Other countries that have improved their response to modern slavery this year include Peru, Uruguay, Trinidad and Tobago, Panama and Bolivia.

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This year, the TIP Report looks into the evolution of the report itself over the past 20 years. Since the passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) in 2000, we have faced many challenges as a global community, and the TIP Report has been produced throughout all of them. As we now launch this 20th anniversary report in the midst of the COVID-19 emergency, we are making it clear: neither terrorism nor financial crisis nor a pandemic will stop us from pursuing freedom for victims. As we have continued our work during the COVID-19 pandemic, traffickers have continued as well. Traffickers did not shut down. They continue to harm people, finding ways to innovate and even capitalize on the chaos. The ratio between risk and reward is expanding in their favor. And so, we press on all the more. As the vulnerable become more vulnerable, we remain resolved in our pursuit of freedom for every victim of human trafficking and accountability for every trafficker.

The conflict and violence in Syria since 2011 have caused massive loss of life and human suffering, as well as a complex displacement crisis. Four of Syria’s neighbouring states are the most important hosting countries worldwide for refugees from the war-torn country. As of the end of September 2015, there are almost four million Syrian refugees in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq alone, whose registration is active with the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). In addition, over six and a half million Syrians are internally displaced within their own country. Not all Syrians and stateless people who have fled abroad have registered with UNHCR or the national authorities (NRC, April 2015), and not all those internally displaced are recorded as such, therefore the figures are likely to be even higher in all cases. Apart from the violence itself, the conflict and attendant refugee crisis in neighbouring countries have led to increased impoverishment, informal “coping” economies and war profiteering, rendering people displaced by the crisis vulnerable to exploitation and different forms of trafficking in persons. Uncertainty prevails as to when the war in Syria will end and internally displaced people (IDPs) will be able to return to their homes, whether Syrian refugees abroad will be able to return to their country of origin, and for how long the hosting states will be able to meet the refugees’ needs in terms of providing access to basic services – accommodation, healthcare and education – and opportunities for income generation. As of mid-2014, the situation in Syria, as well as in parts of Iraq, has been further exacerbated by the seizure of large swathes of territory by Da’ish (ISIS/ISIL/IS), resulting in violence and further displacement of Syrian and Iraqi people, as well as of other people residing in those areas.

Child Protection Case Management (CP CM) is part of the essential services that cannot be stopped suddenly, but which requires adaptation to the new emergency.This includes the Best Interest Procedure (BIP) in refugee settings. With many schools and childcare facilities closed, increased caregiver stress, and crowded living spaces where families are confined, children are at heightened risk of abuse, neglect, and exploitation. In addition, children may experience the death of their caregiver or may be separated from their families for multiple reasons, including public health containment measures associated with COVID-19. As these risks are often hidden and out of sight within communities, it can become even more difficult to identify vulnerable children without visits or other forms of follow-up by caseworkers due to new COVID-19-related restrictions. Thus, continued support for the most urgent cases within the existing caseload must be available through adapted measures, along with appropriate responses for new child protection risks and concerns generated by the pandemic. This document builds on existing response action from several countries and case management task force agencies. It provides considerations for adapting CP CM interventions to the COVID-19 pandemic and to better understand the important role of case management in the emergency.

Worldwide, an estimated 152 million children are in child labour, almost half of them, 73 million, work in hazardous child labour. The global health crisis is leading to mass disruption with far-reaching consequences. Many children are out of school and economic pressures on families continue to grow. This could push millions of children into child labour and makes child labour an imminent concern. Already working children are likely to be more exposed to the virus (further increasing spread) and face higher risks to falling into worst forms of child labour (WFCL). This technical note offers guidance and information to practitioners and policy-makers on child labour issues during and after COVID-19 and what actions can be taken. After the introduction, section 2 presents the potential risks COVID-19 can pose to children at risk of child labour and children engaged in child labour. Section 3 presents programmatic and advocacy actions in line with the 2019 Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (CPMS) and the Child Labour in Emergencies Toolkit (revised edition forthcoming in 2020). Section 4 lists available resources.

It is abundantly clear that risk factors for violence, abuse, and neglect are on the rise for children under containment. At the same time, some COVID-19 prevention measures have abruptly cut children off from positive and supportive relationships they rely on when in distress, including at school, in the extended family, and in the community. Children’s rights to safety and protection as outlined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action are threatened. This resource, which is informed by reports from the field, examines issues that children may face as countries implement lockdowns and stay-at-home orders to curb the spread of COVID-19. Protective prevention and response strategies are then outlined with the goal of strengthening the protection of children in all types of homes.