UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday marked Dec. 2 as International Day for the Abolition of Slavery and called for the redoubling of efforts to eradicate the contemporary forms of "abominable practices."
"Millions of our fellow human beings continue to live as contemporary slaves, victims of abominable practices like human trafficking, forced labor and sexual exploitation," Ban said in his message for the Day, observed annually on Dec. 2.
Countless children are forced to become soldiers or work in sweat shops, or are sold by desperate families, while women are brutalized and traded like commodities, Ban said.
"The fact that these atrocities take place in today's world should fill us all with shame," Ban said, adding that, above all, "the needs of the enslaved must inspire us to action."
No individual, community or country can remain silent in the face of this scourge, and actions should be taken at the national, regional and global levels, said he UN chief.
In this regard, Ban noted that the UN Human Rights Council established a new Special Procedures mandate this year and appointed a Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery.
"This mandate will play a leading role in confronting slavery in close collaboration with UN Member States, our civil society partners, and victims' groups," he said.
Ban also emphasized the need to understand why and how slavery is so common in so civilized an age.
"We have to recognize that endemic poverty, social exclusion and widespread discrimination allow this practice to fester," he said. "Slavery's practitioners thrive on the desperate, the dispossessed and the disadvantaged."
He called for a reaffirming of the inherent dignity of all men, women and children.
"Let us redouble our efforts to build societies in which slavery truly is a term for the history books," Ban said.
Source: Xinhua
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