New York (21 May) -- Living up to its role as one of the leaders in the fight against human trafficking, the Philippines last week reiterated before the United Nations General Assembly the importance of synergy in all intergovernmental efforts against trafficking in persons.

Ambassador Hilario G. Davide, Jr., Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations, underscored this point in the statement he delivered during the recently concluded Interactive Thematic Dialogue of the General Assembly. Themed "Taking Collective Action to End Human Trafficking," the interactive dialogue was sponsored by the Philippines, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua and Bahrain and was held in New York on 13 May 2009.

"Human trafficking is a gross violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," Ambassador Davide said in his statement. " In a world that prides itself as civilized, human trafficking is not only a form of slavery; it is far worse than any form of slavery."

"It is a crime that shames us all. It shames us because we have not done enough to remove the shame. It must be eliminated. It must be exterminated from this civilized world," he said as he spelled out the way forward in addressing the issue of improving coordination of anti-trafficking efforts, including through the development of a global plan of action to fight trafficking.

In pushing for more synergy in intergovernmental efforts to address the issue, Ambassador Davide cited the various protocols and conventions that have been put in place since 2000 to guide international actions against trafficking as well as the meetings and conferences that have been taking place in the United Nations and its agencies.

"The plan of action should not re-invent the wheel, that is, it should not be a document that repeats the norms, standards and approaches that are already in the Trafficking Protocol and other related instruments, the resolutions and other existing documents," Ambassador Davide said.

"The plan of action, while recognizing the best practices and comparative advantages and focus of the various anti-trafficking efforts, should concentrate on a continuing assessment of the quality of communication, coordination, cooperation and linkages among all actors involved in anti-trafficking," Davide emphasized.