South Sudan: UN human rights expert to assess trafficking in persons

GENEVA (5 December 2022) – UN Special Rapporteur Siobhán Mullally will assess the situation of trafficking in persons during an official visit to South Sudan from 5 to 14 December 2022.

Mullally will examine trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation, forced labour, child and forced marriage, including among refugees, internally displaced persons and returnees. She will also check risks of trafficking arising from climate-related displacement. The Special Rapporteur will visit Juba, Bentiu and Nimule and will meet representatives of Government, law enforcement, UN officials, civil society and survivors of trafficking in persons.

Mullally will hold a press conference to share preliminary observations on Wednesday 14 December at 11:00am at UNDP Compound, Plot 21, Ministries Road, Juba. Access will be strictly limited to journalists.

The Special Rapporteur will present a full report on the country visit to the UN Human Rights Council in June 2023.

ENDS

The expert: Ms. Siobhán Mullally (Ireland) was appointed as Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children by the UN Human Rights Council in July 2020, to promote the prevention of trafficking in persons in all its forms, and to encourage measures to uphold and protect the human rights of victims. She is also the Established Professor of Human Rights Law and Director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights at the School of Law, National University of Ireland, Galway. Prior to her appointment as Special Rapporteur, she was a member of the Council of Europe Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA), elected as President of GRETA from 2016-2018 and as 1st Vice-President from 2014-2018.

The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.