The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Project Co-ordinator in Baku today signed a Declaration to co-operate on and support combating human trafficking in Azerbaijan. The Declaration was signed by Dereck Hogan, Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Baku, and Ambassador Alexis Chahtahtinsky, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Baku.

USAID will support the OSCE’s efforts to assist the Government of Azerbaijan and civil society organizations to improve the country’s effectiveness in preventing and combating human trafficking and forced labour. The activities will raise public awareness on human trafficking as well as provide technical assistance and financial support to civil society organizations operating shelters for female, male and child victims of human trafficking and forced labour. In addition, the project will enhance multi-stakeholder co-ordination and co-operation on tackling all forms of human trafficking, including for the purpose of labour exploitation, by facilitating roundtable discussions and developing recommendations to the government.

“The Declaration that we are signing here today underscores that the United States, through USAID, is committed to helping our Azerbaijani partners in their efforts to combat human trafficking,” said Hogan. He added that the U.S. Government will continue and enhance these efforts, in co-ordination and co-operation with other partners, including the Government of Azerbaijan and civil society organizations.

Chahtahtinsky said: “Thanks to this extra-budgetary contribution by USAID and the US Government to project initiated by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Baku, we will be able to substantially increase our support to the Azerbaijani Government’s efforts to tackle human trafficking and better meet its OSCE and other commitments in this respect. This project was approved by Azerbaijan’s Government in June 2014 and it is vitally important that we unite our efforts to make sure that this form of modern slavery has no place in the 21st century. We can only succeed if this global problem is tackled effectively everywhere. This is why it is so important that we work together on this issue at the OSCE, alongside the U.S. Government and the Republic of Azerbaijan.”