Guatemalan National Trafficking in Persons Congress

The first annual Guatemalan National Trafficking in Persons Congress was hosted by the Institute for Trafficked, Exploited, and Missing Persons (ITEMP) and La Asociación Nuestros Ahijados in June 2008. The Congress was partially funded by the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala. Former U.S. Ambassador for Guatemala James M. Derham was joined by the director of ECPAT Guatemala (End Child Prostitution, Child [...] and Trafficking of Children for [...] Purposes) as speakers for the 2008 Congress. Through coordination and cooperation of many entities, including the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala, UNIAP, the U.S. Department of State, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Defense, USCCB, and Hagar Int, the first Congress was a success. Over 750 participants from eight countries attended and were informed about the issues of trafficking in persons. The goal of the Congress is to better define the complex issues of trafficking in persons, increase cooperation between the Guatemalan government and local and international NGOs, and to increase public awareness.

Objectives

The Congress has six key objectives:

  • Educate the public and private sectors on the existing problems as well as the development of public politics.
  • Increase the social sensibility on the cruelties of modern-day slavery, creating collaborations in the detection, accusation, and eradication of traffickers in the communities.
  • Promote exchange and cooperation among professionals of different sectors in working toward the common goal.
  • Extol the quality of offering legal aid and of our networks through the exchange of information, professional training, and enlargement of networks.
  • Identify good practices for future application.
  • Recognize the contributions of individuals and the institutional efforts that have shown commitment and dedication by preventing and towards eradicating trafficking in persons in Guatemala.

2008 and the Future

Numerous expert panelists conducted sessions and workshops throughout the three-day conference addressing the extensive issues related to trafficking in persons and modern-day slavery. Trafficking in Guatemala and internationally and child [...] tourism were topics of the discussions, as well as detection, eradication, and victim aid. The Congress also addressed weaknesses of the internal regulation, and provided the opportunity to exchange information and to create inter-institutional networks.

The second annual Congress will focus on the professional development of systems to better combat trafficking throughout Guatemala, and identify successful practices..