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The Coordinated
Mekong Ministerial Initiative against Trafficking (COMMIT) has fuelled
major progress in counter-human trafficking efforts in the Greater Mekong
Sub-region (GMS) since its inception in 2004. In 2004, after nearly a year of
negotiations facilitated by UNIAP, the six Governments of the Greater
Mekong Sub-region (Cambodia, PR China, Lao PDR, Myanmar,
Thailand, and
Viet Nam
) signed a historic Memorandum of
Understanding against Trafficking in Persons. This MOU covers all aspects of the response
to human trafficking, and specifically highlights the need for Governments
to work together with NGOs and international organizations to counter
human trafficking.
The MOU
initiated the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against
Trafficking (COMMIT) process, and
stemmed from a recognition by the Governments of the sub-region that
existing national responses were insufficient to address the problem of
trafficking. The process was initiated with the understanding that a
regional guiding framework for cooperation was required to effectively
address human trafficking in the region. Some key features of COMMIT
include:
§ A comprehensive
approach to human trafficking – addressing all aspects of the trafficking
response: Prevention, Prosecution, Protection, and
Policy
§
Strong national
ownership and high levels of political commitment, with approval at the
Ministerial level
§
A sustained
focus on the rights of victims, as central to all elements of
counter-trafficking, including law enforcement and criminal
justice
§ Recognizing the
need for increased efforts in enforcing labor laws and monitoring of labor
recruitment companies and mechanisms
§
Collaborative
government – non-government efforts to achieve measurable policy and
programmatic targets that meet international
standards
To
operationalize the MOU, the six governments jointly developed a
Sub-regional Plan of Action (COMMIT SPA, 2005-2007) that transformed the
political commitments made in the COMMIT MOU into action. This workplan
was not intended to replace or duplicate existing national planning
processes, but to complement, build on, and support national responses, as
well as to coordinate
government – non-government counter-trafficking and victim protection
activities. In December 2007, the Second COMMIT Sub-regional Plan of
Action (COMMIT SPA II, 2008-2010) was completed and endorsed by all of the
member countries at the Senior Officials Meeting 5 (SOM 5) and the 2nd
Inter-Ministerial Meeting (IMM 2) in Beijing .
The eight
Project Proposal Concepts (PPCs)
within SPA II focus on the following:
SPA II Project
Proposal Concepts
1-
Training and
Capacity
Building
2-
National Plans
of Action
3-
Multilateral
and Bilateral Partnerships
4-
Legal
Frameworks, Law Enforcement, and Justice
5-
Victim
Identification, Protection, Recovery and
Reintegration
6-
Preventive
Measures
7-
Cooperation
with the Tourism Sector
8-
Management:
Coordination, Monitoring and Evaluation
UNIAP’s
Role as Secretariat to COMMIT
UNIAP has been
entrusted by the governments to act as Secretariat to COMMIT, based on its
existing work and mandate as an inter-agency coordinating body. UNIAP is
able to draw on its extensive network of partners throughout the region to
provide technical and financial assistance to all aspects of the COMMIT
process, and also works with partners to ensure that programs and
activities are aligned with government priorities, as expressed in the
COMMIT Sub-regional Plans of Action
(COMMIT SPA and SPA II) and National Plans of Action. Technical and
financial support for the COMMIT process has been further provided by a
wide range of multi-sectoral partners including UN agencies, NGOs,
inter-governmental organizations, and donor
organizations.
The COMMIT SPA
II (2008-2010) was developed with technical support from UNIAP as the
COMMIT Secretariat, building from the achievements of the first COMMIT SPA
and advancing on its measurable targets and progress indicators. The
inter-agency collaboration fostered around the first COMMIT SPA continues
through the SPA II, with implementing agencies contributing their unique
technical expertise to helping the governments advance along the
measurable targets and progress indicators built into the SPA II’s
monitoring and evaluation framework. UNIAP project
offices based in each of the six countries coordinate with government and
UN agencies on a
day-to-day basis to ensure that the governments have the technical,
administrative and financial support necessary to progress on all aspects
of SPA II.
COMMIT:
Results to Date
Due to its
comprehensive coverage and sound empirical basis, underpinned by
high-level political commitment from
the six GMS governments, the COMMIT process provides an unprecedented
opportunity to
advance a genuinely multi-sectoral and effective regional response to
human trafficking, based on the latest in good practice and lessons
learned throughout the world. Evaluation of the first COMMIT SPA
(2005-2007) highlighted the following selected
achievements:
1. A
comprehensive training course on human counter-trafficking for government
and non-government officials, providing state-of-the-art information
delivered by recognized experts in the field; the
course has also been translated into the six GMS languages and localized
for maximum
relevance;
2. The
development and strengthening of National Plans of Action and bilateral
cooperation mechanisms in/between many of the six GMS countries, with
sound monitoring and evaluation frameworks;
3. Regional
guiding principles on victim protection and labor recruitment, setting an
international standard for all GMS national and cross-border mechanisms
handling trafficked persons and migrants; and
4. Observable
improvements of national legal frameworks and the criminal justice
response to human trafficking, as it is practiced on the ground to protect
trafficked persons and bring offenders to
justice. | 
