In 2016, there were an estimated 40.3 million victims of modern slavery in the world, more than were enslaved during the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Since the adoption of the 2000 UN Trafficking Protocol, numerous efforts from inter-governmental agencies, governmental agencies, international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), and domestic non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have strived to combat the phenomena of human trafficking through legal-institutional means, direct interventions, and programs of support for those exploited. This anti-trafficking work has paid varying degrees of attention to the principles and methods of monitoring, evaluation, and impact assessment, but has often been subject to the end of project evaluations. Similar to findings of reviews of evaluations in the international development sector, evaluations of anti-trafficking programing have primarily focused on assessing the progress of project implementation and the achievement of outputs, rather than tracking the achievement of outcomes or impact. This is further complicated by the hidden nature of human trafficking and the trauma experienced by human-trafficking victims. As a consequence, despite some evidence of raised awareness and increased levels of funding, organizations are still struggling to demonstrate impact and discern what works to combat human trafficking. This article analyses the evaluations of counter-trafficking programing produced since the Protocol to draw conclusions regarding the lessons learned from these interventions and the methods used to monitor and evaluate human-trafficking programs. By highlighting gaps, this article provides a series of suggestions on how to better track progress and impact toward the elimination of modern slavery.

In 2016, the Office of the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings (OSR/CTHB) launched the project “Combating Human Trafficking along Migration Routes”. The project sought to develop a training exercise that would improve the investigation and prosecution of cases and enhance the identification and protection of victims, particularly those along migration routes. The result was a groundbreaking training programme with three distinctive features: The exercises use live actors to create simulations of real cases that are explored over the course of a week by first-line practitioners. The training format is built around a multidisciplinary approach that brings together practitioners from a variety of fields—including prosecutors, law enforcement, social services, NGOs, and financial investigators—to train in close collaboration. The exercises include trainees from multiple countries, incorporating cultural differences and cross-border challenges into the storylines. These features put a strong emphasis on the human interaction that is so fundamental to this field of work; it is this human interaction that helps develop strong professional networks among the participants—across disciplines and borders

These Guidelines address implementation of the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) on grave violations against children in situations of armed conflict under Security Council Resolutions 1612 (2005), 1882 (2009), 1998 (2011) 2068 (2012), and 2143 (2014). They describe the purpose and focus of the mechanism; specify the leadership, roles and responsibilities of implementing actors, in particular UNICEF, peacekeeping and political missions and Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator, and the MRM architecture and information flow; outline reporting requirements; and highlight the critical linkage of the MRM to response programming and advocacy. The MRM Guidelines are essential reading for co-chairs and members of the country task forces for monitoring and reporting, also known as CTFMRs.The MRM Field Manual, a companion publication to the Guidelines, is designed to serve as a comprehensive resource for practitioners responsible for implementing the MRM. The manual and its annexes cover in detail the technical aspects of monitoring and reporting practice, as well as critical issues related to information management and security. The manual also covers the issue of response, to ensure that monitoring and reporting activity is underpinned by adequate programmes and services for victims of violations. The MRM is a living document, and both the Guidelines and the Field Manual will undergo periodic reviews under the auspices of the Global Task Force on Children Affected by Armed Conflict.

At the UN level, progress towards the SDGs is measured by a global indicator framework and Voluntary National Reviews, where governments report on their own activities against these indicators. This approach is hampered, however, by the lack of indicators on all forms of moden slavery under SDG 8.7, as well as the voluntary nature of this reporting. Without clear indicators to measure progress toward the 2030 goal, governments are not able to report systematically and consistently, nor can they be held to account. In the absence of official indicators, this report, Measurement, Action, Freedom, provides an independent assessment of 183 governments and their responses to the challenge of modern slavery. In it, governments are assessed against their ability to identify and support survivors, to establish effective criminal justice systems, to strengthen coordination mechanisms and be held to account, to address underlying risk factors, and to clean up government and business supply chains, all in order to eradicate modern slavery. The findings shine a light on those taking strong action, identify those that are lagging, and highlight the activities that should be prioritised.

This facilitator’s guide has been designed to accompany the ‘Human Trafficking: A modern form of slavery’ training manual and training programme, with the aim of providing participants with a complete package of lesson plans and training skills necessary for carrying out short training and information sessions on human trafficking. The guide includes training tips and guidelines for effective communication skills; lesson plans covering five thematic areas and an appendix of ice breaker activities and additional resources. An updated information sheet is included in the inside cover of the training manual, as a corrigendum to the 2009 edition.

This desk review is conducted as part of the project entitled “Stop Trafficking Now!” being implemented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Special Liaison Mission in Addis Ababa, the African Union Commission (AUC) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Secretariat. The project is aimed at contributing to the efforts of the AUC, IGAD and East African Community (EAC) Member States to combat trafficking in persons, consistent with the “Ouagadougou Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings Especially Women and Children” (OAP) and the AUC Initiative against Trafficking (AU.COMMIT) campaign strategies to translate the Ouagadougou Action Plan into action. The OAP is a declaration of the will and joint intent of the African Union, the European Union and their Member States to enhance their efforts to fight human trafficking. It provides specific legal and political recommendations to be implemented by the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and Member States at sub-regional, continental and global levels. It further upholds and reinforces the international and regional legal instruments on human rights, particularly the conventions and protocols on trafficking in persons, elimination of discrimination against women and protection of the rights of the child. As part of the project “Stop Trafficking Now!” a desk review is undertaken on the countertrafficking efforts by IGAD Member States (Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda), EAC Member States (Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Uganda) as well as the IGAD and EAC secretariats within the framework of the OAP, the AU.COMMIT strategy document and the recently-developed implementation matrix. A comprehensive review report is thus prepared to be shared and discussed during the launching of the AU.COMMIT campaign in the IGAD and EAC sub-regions and at a sub-regional workshop on making the OAP operational, which is organized in Djibouti from 6–8 December 2010.

The overall objective of this pilot project is to contribute to the efforts of the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to enhance its institutional capacities to combat trafficking in children through the development of comprehensive and integrated activities promoting prevention measures of this phenomenon, protection of victims and prosecution of traffickers. The comprehensive nature of this Programme is in direct response to the Government’s expressed interest and request to IOM to provide assistance in the prevention of trafficking, protection of victims of trafficking and prosecution of traffickers in Afghanistan. This initiative will pursue these objectives through a preliminary action-research phase that will provide the necessary insight on the phenomenon of child trafficking in/from Afghanistan in order to better tailor and target the consequent project components.

The overarching goals of this Toolkit are those of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, which will be referred to hereinafter as the “Trafficking in Persons Protocol”. These goals are: To prevent and combat trafficking, To protect and assist its victims, To promote international cooperation. In pursuit of these goals, the Toolkit seeks to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and information among policymakers, law enforcers, judges, prosecutors, victim service providers and members of civil society who are working at different levels towards these same objectives.

Tracking the risks and exposure to conflicts and natural disasters in regions, countries and localities, and assessing how such crises can affect migrants and their assets, is a vital step towards protecting migrants. Understanding regional, national and local risks, and overlaying this information with data on the location and characteristics of migrants can inform targeted preparation and response efforts. All conflicts and natural disasters are not entirely unpredictable. Conflicts may be preceded by various signs, including protests, xenophobic violence and civil unrest. While many natural disasters occur with great immediacy, different countries and regions are more prone to specific types of hazards than others; those related to weather events for example, often occur with some forewarning, and some are cyclical and recurrent. A number of early warning systems exist to monitor hazards and alert communities. Often, local actors may possess the most timely and accurate information on impending crises and are valuable sources of knowledge.

In June 2017, the Child Protection Area of Responsibility (CP AoR), Global Education Cluster, and IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) launched a joint-project to better integrate child protection in the collection, analysis and sharing of DTM data, with the objective of better understanding the needs and risks faced by children on the move to improve effectiveness of response. The DTM for Children on the Move project has produced multiple guidelines and tools, including this guidance document, to facilitate collaboration between the CP AoR and DTM in obtaining and using data that child protection partners need. The audience for this document is child protection cluster coordinators and information managers. Additional relevant tools to working with DTM may be found on the CP AoR webpage