On March 12, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the UN and Head of Delegation to the 63rd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), gave opening remarks during a Side Event entitled “Social Protection Systems and Access to Public Services in the Fight against Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery,” which the Holy See sponsored at the UN together with the Arise Foundation.

In his remarks, Archbishop Auza said that the theme of the 63rd Session of the CSW focusing on social protection systems and access to public services is a straightforward and highly important theme in the fight against human trafficking, because without access to economic resources, decent work, ownership, new technology, microfinancing, health coverage, medicines, vaccines, education, and justice, people, especially women and girls, are vulnerable to exploitation and trafficking. One of the priorities in the prevention of trafficking, he said, is to ensure access to education, jobs, health care, and justice. Access to these basic human goods, he said, is also essential to rehabilitate and reintegrate survivors. He cited the section on access in the recent “Pastoral Orientations on Human Trafficking” by the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development as illustrative of the Holy See’s and the Catholic Church’s commitment to providing this access.

His statement can be found here.