Statement of the African Union at the March 15 Debate on Forced Labour
General
According to the International Labour Organization, there are over 21 million children, women and men living in modern slavery, of whom approximately 3.7 million are to be found in Africa. We have an estimated 3.7 million African men, women and children still trapped in forced labour and working under extreme coercion, largely in the informal economy.
Implementation
Against that background, in order to foster the implementation of the international legal framework on trafficking in persons, the African Union has adopted a range of policy instruments to prevent and combat human trafficking, namely, the Ouagadougou Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings, Especially Women and Children; the Migration Policy Framework for Africa; and the African Union Commission Initiative Against Trafficking.