New York, 25 November 2025
Madam President,
At the outset, my Delegation expresses its appreciation for the convening of the fourth High-Level Meeting to appraise the United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, fifteen years after its adoption. I would like to thank the Permanent Representatives of Cyprus and Tajikistan for their leadership during the negotiation of the 2025 Political Declaration.
Globally, the number of victims of trafficking is growing, with children being increasingly affected, particularly those who are unaccompanied or separated from their families. While most girls are trafficked for sexual exploitation, boys are more often subjected to forced labour, criminal activity, and begging. Both forms of exploitation undermine the God-given dignity of the victim.
The Holy See remains concerned about this grim situation. Despite the progress made, trafficking networks continue to exploit the vulnerabilities arising, among others, from poverty, underdevelopment and humanitarian emergencies. The increasing misuse of rapidly evolving technologies also facilitates the recruitment, control and abuse of victims. It is therefore crucial to reverse this trend and ensure that technology, including artificial intelligence, is used to serve human dignity, justice and the common good.
The Political Declaration rightly calls for the intensification of international and regional cooperation in order to prevent all forms of trafficking, address the specific requirements of victims - including the timely reunification of families - and enhance criminal justice responses.
The Holy See also appreciates the recognition of the greater risks faced by refugees and migrants. When dealing with human trafficking, it is important to remember that the weakest are those who suffer the most, therefore there is a need for “a collective and united effort aimed at reversing the dehumanizing trend of social injustices and promoting integral human development”[1].
Madam President,
My Delegation would like to express the Holy See’s position and reservations on certain parts of the Political Declaration that contain problematic language.
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With reference to the “exploitation of surrogacy” (para. 9) the Holy See insists that this practice is deplorable in any case, as it constitutes a grave violation of the dignity of both the woman and the child.
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The Holy See interprets the term “sexual and reproductive health-care services” (para. 1o) as referring to a holistic concept of health, and does not consider abortion, access to abortion or to abortifacients to be included in these terms.
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The Holy See understands the term “gender” as being based on biological sexual identity, that is male or female.
Madam President,
Allow me to conclude with the words of Pope Leo XIV: “Amid wars, terrorism, human trafficking and widespread aggression, our children and young people need to be able to experience the culture of life, dialogue, and mutual respect.” [2]
I thank you.
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[1] Pope Leo XIV, Address to participants in the World meeting of Popular Movements, 23 October 2025.
[2] Pope Leo XIV, Address to the movements and associations of the “Arena of peace”, 30 May 2025.
