With offices in Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam , UNIAP is committed to building a united front on human trafficking, and taking action based on the needs of each country. UNIAP Vietnam works in four core areas: Building the knowledge base on human trafficking; Supporting action on high priority areas; Targeted interventions that respond to identified gaps; and Strengthening advocacy on the issue of human trafficking.

UNIAP is unique because it works as a coordinating body and service provider to facilitate successful responses by its partners, rather than implementing programs itself. Our approach in supporting and initiating programs and then stepping back as our partners take them forward, ensures that full-scale responses to trafficking are implemented by those best placed to do so.

As a service provider, UNIAP Vietnam provides a platform for action on trafficking. We facilitate closer, more effective working relationships, and act as a catalyst for these relationships to translate into action:

Building the Knowledge Base on Human Trafficking

UNIAP Vietnam has collected a number of resources related to trafficking issues in Vietnam and in the region for reference and sharing among anti-trafficking groups, Government bodies, and other international and local NGOs. Some of them have been translated from Vietnamese into English and vice-versa for easy reference. Along with this, a mapping exercise documenting the network of the UN agencies, international organizations and NGOs working on trafficking issues in Vietnam has been undertaken and is updated biannually. A list-serve of all anti-trafficking organizations in Vietnam has also been completed and UNIAP provides list-serve subscribers with regular E-News Digests. Requests for subscriptions are gradually increasing.  In the near future, a paper-based Reference Center that is currently housed within the UNIAP office is to be transferred to a local institute that will allow information on human trafficking to reach the general public. A meaningfulmechanism for agencies to become involved is the quarterly Vietnamese newsletter, where all partners can contribute and share their views or information on their work or activities in the field. To broaden the nationwide network, UNIAP Vietnam undertook its first mission to Ho Chi Minh City in 2004 to link up with the anti-trafficking community in the south of Vietnam.  UNIAP also worked in partnership with UNICEF, and other NGOs, particularly AFESIP, to successfully raise the profile of a child sexual abuse case involving a foreign pedophile in Ho Chi Minh City .

Supported Action on High Priority Areas

Inter-Agency me etings, an effective information-sharing me chanism coordinated by UNIAP Vietnam, are conducted regularly in Hanoi with all anti-trafficking organizations on a quarterly basis. In addition to these regular Inter-Agency meetings, UNIAP also responds to special requests by partners to support issue-specific meetings.

Despite efforts by the Vietnamese Government to respond to trafficking in Vietnam, there have been gaps in their trafficking interventions and, thus, a need to undertake a careful assessment of existing initiatives.   To bridge these gaps, UNIAP in collaboration with other agencies such as UNICEF, ILO, IOM and SCUK, conducted a Training Needs Analysis Workshop for Government officials at the national and provincial levels working on trafficking in Vietnam.  Another workshop will be held in Ho Chi Minh City for southern personnel to clearly identify needs regarding the improvement of responses to combat trafficking. Following these assessments, a training kit on human trafficking is expected to be developed based on the review, adaptation and replication of existing training materials available both inside and outside of Vietnam .

Targeted Interventions that Respond to Identified Gaps

The National Assembly of Vietnam initiated an Indochinese Parliamentary Meeting on Human Trafficking, where the parliaments of Cambodia and Lao PDR attended and shared their views.

To support the Vietna me se Govern me nt in moving forward with the approval of the National Plan of Action (NPA) 2004-2010 on fighting against trafficking of wo me n and children, UNIAP Vietnam has provided technical and logistical assistance to the focal anti-trafficking ministry, Ministry of Public Security (MPS), and with the help from the Govern me nt Office, involved all national stakeholders in the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against Trafficking (COMMIT) process, which in turn has had a strong positive impact on the rapid approval process of the NPA. Thus far, UNIAP has been working closely with MPS and other relevant ministries government organizations including the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), the Border Guard Command (BCG), the Vietnam Wo me n's Union (VWU) and the National Committee for Population, Family and Children (CPFC) not only on the COMMIT process, which is supported and coordinated by UNIAP Project Management Office in Bangkok, but also in designing and imple me nting the sectoral Plan of Action on combating trafficking in wo me n and children. UNIAP Vietnam is also supporting the bilateral cooperation agree me nts between Vietnam and Cambodia , and Vietnam and China on combating human trafficking through me etings and study tours or field visit exchanges wherever possible.

Strengthening Advocacy on the Issue of Human Trafficking

One of the important approaches to advocacy is to bring together all concerned parties, governments and states, make them aware of the issues, and then support them as they make their own decisions. The COMMIT process exemplifies this approach. UNIAP Vietnam’s lobbying for the early establishment of the Vietnam COMMIT Task Force involved not only approaching Vietnamese law enforcement bodies but also the top-level officials from the National Assembly and Prime-Minister's Offices. As was previously mentioned above, the signing of the COMMIT Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), agreement on the Sub-regional Plan of Action (SPA) and the approval of the NPA were all events that occurred as a result of mutual support for one another. Following the Senior Officials Meetings (SOM) 1 and 2, UNIAP Vietnam helped the Vietnamese Government successfully host SOM 3 in Hanoi from 29-31 March 2005, which showed the will and the determination of the Greater Mekong Sub-regional governments to fighting human trafficking through the common commitments and goals detailed in the COMMIT MOU and action-oriented SPA.    

In addition, UNIAP Vietnam has been one of the co-organizers of the Children's Voice Campaign against child labour and trafficking initiated by the ILO-IPEC and SCUK, including a National Children’s Forum held in Vietnam in August 2004, which created opportunities for children to meet and share their experiences, perspectives, concerns and expectations about prevention of child trafficking and labour;  and created opportunities for policy-makers to listen to the voices of children and take into account their views and advice when developing policy related to the prevention of child trafficking and child labour.