ISLAMABAD: A nation-wide awareness campaign against trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants was launched by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on Wednesday. The campaign is co-funded by Australian Government Department of Immigration and Border Protection and United States Department of State. The campaign will use different media and tools to engage general public and relevant stakeholders on trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants. In his speech on the occasion, UNODC Pakistan representative Cesar Guedes stressed the need for joint efforts at the international level to combat human trafficking. He said, “The practice is nothing short of modern-day slavery.” The campaign is a part of the Global Action to Prevent and Address Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants (GLO.ACT), a four-year joint initiative by the European Union (EU) and the UNODC. The project, implemented in partnership with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), is part of global efforts to combat human trafficking and migrant smuggling. The GLO.ACT is a coordinated response to trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants and aims to strengthen the criminal justice response in 13 strategically selected countries across Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. These countries are Belarus, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Kyrgyz Republic, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mali, Morocco, Nepal, Niger, Pakistan, South Africa and Ukraine. Published in Daily Times, July 20th, 2017.