Security Council resolution 2388 (2017) [on trafficking in persons in armed conflicts]
Symbol: S/RES/2388 (2017)
Date: 2017-09-21
Status: adopted
Agenda: S/72 [304] TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS
S/72 [201] WOMEN IN ARMED CONFLICTS
S/72 [187] CHILDREN IN ARMED CONFLICTS
S/72 [10] INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
S/72 [31] TERRORISM
Subjects: UN Office on Drugs and Crime|Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Organization)|UN. Security Council Committee Established pursuant to Resolution 1373 (2001) concerning Counter-Terrorism. Executive Directorate|UN. Security Council. Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team Established pursuant to Resolution 1526 (2004)|UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da'esh/Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant|TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS|HUMAN RIGHTS IN ARMED CONFLICTS|TRANSNATIONAL CRIME|LAW ENFORCEMENT|TERRORISM|COUNTER-TERRORISM|GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE|CRIME VICTIMS
Votes in favour: 15
Votes against: 0
Abstentions: 0
Voting record:
country: BOLIVIA (PLURINATIONAL STATE OF)
vote: yes
country: CHINA
vote: yes
country: EGYPT
vote: yes
country: ETHIOPIA
vote: yes
country: FRANCE
vote: yes
country: ITALY
vote: yes
country: JAPAN
vote: yes
country: KAZAKHSTAN
vote: yes
country: RUSSIAN FEDERATION
vote: yes
country: SENEGAL
vote: yes
country: SWEDEN
vote: yes
country: UKRAINE
vote: yes
country: UNITED KINGDOM
vote: yes
country: UNITED STATES
vote: yes
country: URUGUAY
vote: yes

               United Nations                                                                  S/RES/2388 (2017)
               Security Council                                                 Distr.: General
                                                                                21 November 2017




               Resolution 2388 (2017)
               Adopted by the Security Council at its 8111th meeting, on
               21 November 2017

                    The Security Council,
                    Recalling Presidential Statement 2015/25, Resolution 2331 (2016),
                    Taking note of the Secretary-General’s report S/2017/939,
                    Recalling its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace
               and security, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations,
                     Taking note of the efforts undertaken by United Nations entities and
               international and regional bodies to implement Resolution 2331 (2016), including
               the development of a Thematic Paper on trafficking in persons in conflict situations,
               the establishment of the Task Team on anti-trafficking in humanitarian action within
               the Global Protection Cluster, the development by UNODC of a structured system
               of data collection on trafficking in persons in the context of armed conflict,
               including through the publication of the 2016 Global Report on Trafficking in
               Persons, and the inclusion by the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive
               Directorate, within the existing mandate, under the policy guidance of the Counter
               Terrorism Committee, and in close cooperation with UNODC and other relevant
               entities, in its country assessments, as appropriate, of information regarding
               Member States efforts to address the issue of trafficking in persons where it is
               committed for the purpose of supporting terrorism, including through the financing
               of or recruitment for the commission of terrorist acts,
                     Recalling the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized
               Crime, and its Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons,
               Especially Women and Children, which includes the first internationally agreed
               definition of the crime of trafficking in persons and provides a framework to
               effectively prevent and combat trafficking in persons, and further recalling the
               United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons,
                    Recognizing that trafficking in persons in areas affected by armed conflict and
               post-conflict situations can be for the purpose of various forms of exploitation,
               including exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual
               exploitation, forced labour, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the
               removal of organs; further recognizing that trafficking in persons in armed conflict
               and post-conflict situations can also be associated with sexual violence in conflict
               and that women and children in situations of armed conflict and persons forcibly




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               displaced by armed conflict, including refugees, can be especially vulnerable to
               trafficking in persons in armed conflict and to these forms of exploitation,
                     Recalling the Political Declaration on the implementation of the United
               Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, adopted by the
               General Assembly on 27 September 2017, and further welcoming the resolve of
               Member States expressed therein to take decisive concerted action to end trafficking
               in persons, wherever it may occur,
                    Reiterating deep concern that despite its condemnation of acts of trafficking in
               persons in areas affected by armed conflict, such acts continue to occur,
                     Reiterating its solidarity with victims of trafficking in persons in armed
               conflict and post-conflict situations and noting the importance of providing them
               with appropriate care, assistance and services for their physical, psychological and
               social recovery, rehabilitation and reintegration, in full respect of their huma n rights
               and in a manner that takes full account of the extreme trauma they have suffered and
               the risk of further victimization and stigmatization,
                    Reaffirming that trafficking in persons in the context of armed conflict,
               especially women and girls, cannot and should not be associated with any religion,
               nationality or civilization,
                    Recalling resolutions 2359 (2017) and 2374 (2017), which express concern
               over the serious challenges posed by different forms of transnational organized
               crime, including trafficking in persons and the smuggling of migrants in the Sahel
               region, and recalling also resolutions 2240 (2015) and 2380 (2017), which express
               concern that the situation in Libya is exacerbated by the smuggling of migrants and
               human trafficking into, through and from the Libyan territory, which could provide
               support to other organized crime and terrorist networks in Libya,
                     Reiterating the critical importance of all Member States fully implementing
               relevant Security Council resolutions, including resolutio ns 2195 (2014), 2253
               (2015), 2199 (2015) and 2368 (2017), which express concern that terrorists benefit
               from transnational organized crime in some regions, including from trafficking in
               persons, as well as 2242 (2015), which expresses concern that acts of sexual
               violence and gender-based violence are known to be part of the strategic objectives
               and ideology of certain terrorist groups used as a tactic of terrorism and an
               instrument to increase their finances and their power through recruitment and the
               destruction of communities; and further reiterating the connection between
               trafficking in persons, sexual violence and terrorism and other organized criminal
               activities, which can prolong and exacerbate conflict and instability or intensify its
               impact on civilian populations,
                     Recognizing the need to continue to foster a global partnership against
               trafficking in persons among all stakeholders, including inter alia, through bilateral,
               multilateral and regional processes and initiatives,
                     Recognizing that trafficking in persons entails the violation or abuse of human
               rights and underscoring that certain acts or offences associated with trafficking in
               persons in the context of armed conflict may constitute war crimes; and recalling
               further the responsibilities of States to end impunity and to prosecute those
               responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes as well as other
               crimes and the need for States to adopt appropriate measures within their national
               legal systems for those crimes for which they are required under international law to
               exercise their responsibility to investigate and prosecute,
                    Condemning in the strongest terms continued gross, systematic and
               widespread abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law


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           by ISIL (also known as Da’esh); and abductions of women and children by ISIL,
           ANF, and associated individuals, groups, undertakings, and entities and expressing
           outrage at their exploitation and abuse, including rape and sexual violence, forced
           marriage and enslavement by these entities, encouraging all State and non-state
           actors with evidence to bring it to the attention of the Council, along with any
           information that human trafficking and related forms of exploitation and abuse may
           support the perpetrators financially, emphasizing that States are required to ensure
           that their nationals and persons within their territory do not make available any
           funds, financial assets or economic resources for ISIL’s benefit, and noting that any
           person or entity who transfers funds to ISIL directly or indirectly in connection with
           such exploitation and abuse would be eligible for listing by the Security Council
           Committee established pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011), 2253
           (2015) and 2368 (2017) concerning ISIL (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated
           individuals, groups, undertakings and entities,
                 Recognizing that persons affected by armed conflict and fleeing conflict are at
           great risk of being subjected to trafficking in persons, and stressing the need to
           prevent and identify instances of trafficking in persons among those forcibly
           displaced or otherwise affected by armed conflict,
                 Expressing grave concern over the high numbers of women and children
           subjected to trafficking in armed conflicts, and recognizing that acts of trafficking in
           persons are often associated with other violations of applicable international law
           and other abuses, including those involving recruitment and use, abduction and
           sexual violence including, inter alia, rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitu tion and
           forced pregnancy; and calling on all Member States to hold perpetrators accountable
           and to assist victims in their recovery and reintegration,
                Reiterating its grave concern over the abduction of children in situations of
           armed conflict, the majority of which are perpetrated by non-State armed groups,
           recognizing that abductions occur in a variety of settings, including schools, further
           recognizing that abduction often precedes or follows other abuses and violations of
           applicable international law against children, including those involving recruitment
           and use, killing and maiming, as well as rape and other forms of sexual violence,
           which may amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity, and calling on all
           Member States to hold perpetrators of abductions accountable,
                 Expressing deep concern over the heightened vulnerability to exploitation and
           abuse of children forcibly displaced by armed conflict, particularly when separated
           from their families or caregivers, and underlining the need to ensure protection of
           all unaccompanied children who are victims of or those vulnerable to trafficking in
           persons through their prompt identification and immediate assistance taking into
           account their specific needs,
                Condemning all violations and abuses against children in armed conflict,
           including trafficking in persons and recalling all its resolutions on children and
           armed conflict that call for the protection of children, and in particular Resolution
           1261 (1999) as well as Resolution 1612 (2005), establishing the Monitoring and
           Reporting Mechanism on children and armed conflict,
                Noting measures taken by UN peacekeeping and special political missions in
           accordance with their mandates, to assist host States in exercising their primary
           responsibility to prevent and combat trafficking in persons, also noting measures
           taken by Member States to provide pre-deployment training on trafficking in
           persons to personnel that will be deployed in UN peacekeeping missions and
           encouraging further action in this area,



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                    Noting the initiative by Department of Peacekeeping Operations, the
               Department of Field Support and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to
               develop a training module on human trafficking and smuggling of migrants for in
               mission training of police personnel in selected peacekeeping missions, where
               applicable,
                     Underscoring the need for improved collection, also through relevant data
               base systems managed by international organizations, including UNODC and
               INTERPOL, of timely, objective, accurate and reliable data on trafficking in persons
               in situations of conflict, disaggregated by sex, age and other relevant factors, as well
               as on financial flows associated with trafficking in persons,
                     Reaffirming the need to ensure organization and coherence in the efforts of the
               United Nations System to address trafficking in persons in areas affected by armed
               conflict or in post conflict situations and further recognizing the need to continue to
               work towards an enhanced comprehensive and coordinated approach to prevent and
               combat trafficking, which can contribute to sustainable peace and stability,
                     1.    Reaffirms its condemnation in the strongest terms of all instances of
               trafficking in persons, especially women and children, who make up the vast
               majority of all victims of trafficking in persons in areas affected by armed conflicts,
               and stresses that trafficking in persons undermines the rule of law and contributes to
               other forms of transnational organized crime, which can exacerbate conflict and
               foster insecurity and instability and undermine development;
                    2.    Urges Members States to consider, as a matter of priority, ratifying or
               acceding to, and for States Parties to effectively implement, the United Nations
               Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its supplementing Protocol
               to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and
               Children, as well as all relevant international instruments;
                     3.    Calls upon Member States to reinforce their political commitment to and
               improve their implementation of applicable legal obligations to criminalize, prevent,
               and otherwise combat trafficking in persons, and to strengthen efforts to detect and
               disrupt trafficking in persons, including implementing robust victim identification
               mechanisms and providing access to protection and assistance for identified victims,
               including in relation to areas affected by armed conflict; underscores in this regard
               the importance of international law enforcement cooperation, including with respect
               to investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases and, in this regard, calls for the
               continued support of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in
               providing technical assistance to Member States upon request;
                     4.    Further calls upon Member States, where appropriate, to review, amend
               and implement anti-trafficking and related legislation to ensure that all forms of
               trafficking in persons, including when it is committed in situations of armed conf lict
               or by armed and terrorist groups are addressed, and to consider establishing
               jurisdiction to end the impunity of offenders in line with art. 15 of the UN
               Convention against Transnational Organized Crime;
                    5.    Also calls upon Member States to step up their efforts to investigate,
               disrupt and dismantle networks engaging in trafficking in persons in areas affected
               by armed conflict and to take all appropriate measures to collect, preserve and store
               evidence of human trafficking;
                    6.    Calls upon Member States to combat crimes that might be connected
               with trafficking in persons in areas affected by armed conflict, such as money -
               laundering, corruption, the smuggling of migrants and other forms of organized
               crime, including by making use of financial investigations in order to identify and


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           analyse financial intelligence, as well as by reinforcing regional and international
           operational law enforcement cooperation;
                7.    Calls upon Member States to strengthen compliance with international
           Anti-Money Laundering/Combatting the Financing of Terrorism standards and
           increase capacity to conduct proactive financial investigations to track and disrupt
           human trafficking and identify potential linkages with terrorism financing;
                 8.   Urges Member States, while addressing trafficking in persons in areas
           affected by armed conflicts, to adopt a multi-dimensional approach that includes
           incorporating information on the risks of trafficking in persons into school curricula
           and training programs;
                 9.   Encourages Member States to increase efforts to collect, analyse and
           share through appropriate channels and arrangements and consistent with
           international and domestic law data relating to financial flows associated with
           human trafficking and the extent and nature of financing of terror ism activities
           through human trafficking activities, and to provide, where applicable, Counter -
           Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) and the Analytical Support and
           Sanctions Monitoring Team with relevant information pertaining to linkages
           between human trafficking and terrorist financing;
                 10. Reiterates its condemnation of all acts of trafficking, particularly the sale
           or trade in persons undertaken by the “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant” (ISIL,
           also known as Da’esh), including of Yazidis and other persons belonging to
           religious and ethnic minorities, and of any such trafficking in persons crimes and
           other violations and abuses committed by Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab, the Lord’s
           Resistance Army, and other terrorist or armed groups for the purpo se of sexual
           slavery, sexual exploitation, and forced labour, and underscores the importance of
           collecting and preserving evidence relating to such acts in order to ensure that those
           responsible can be held accountable;
                 11. Requests the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, when
           consulting with Member States, to continue including in their discussions the issue
           of trafficking in persons in areas of armed conflict and the use of sexual violence in
           armed conflict as it relates to ISIL (also known as Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated
           individuals, groups, undertakings and entities and to report to the Security Council
           Committee established pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011), 2253
           (2015) and 2368 (2017) on these discussions as appropriate;
                  12. Requests the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate
           (CTED), within its existing mandate, under the policy guidance of the Counter -
           Terrorism Committee (CTC), and in close cooperation with UNODC and other
           relevant entities, to increase its efforts to include in CTED’s country assessments, as
           appropriate, information regarding Member States efforts to address the issue of
           trafficking in persons where it is committed for the purpose of supporting terrorism,
           including through the financing of or recruitment for the commission of terrorist acts;
                 13. Calls upon Member States to enhance the capabilities of professionals
           interacting with persons forcibly displaced by armed conflict, including refugees,
           such as law enforcement, border control officials and criminal justice systems
           personnel of refugee and displaced persons reception facilities, to identify victims
           or persons vulnerable to trafficking, to adopt gender and age sensitive assistance,
           including adequate psychosocial support and health services, regardless of their
           participation in criminal investigations and proceedings;
                 14. Recognizes the need to strengthen the identification, registration,
           protection, assistance for forcibly displaced persons, including refugees and
           stateless persons, who are victims of trafficking or at risk of being trafficked;

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                     15. Encourages Member States to use refugee registration mechanisms to
               assess vulnerability and identify potential victims of trafficking as well as their
               specific assistance needs, and in this regard encourages Member States to develop
               informative material to explain to victims of trafficking in persons who are refugees
               their rights and avenues for assistance, so as to enable them to engage with relevant
               authorities and access services and psychosocial support that are available to them;
                     16. Encourages Member States, in particular transit and destination States
               receiving persons forcibly displaced by armed conflict, to develop and use early -
               warning and early-screening frameworks of potential or imminent risk of trafficking
               in persons to proactively and expediently detect victims and persons vulnerable to
               trafficking, with special attention to women and children, especially those
               unaccompanied;
                     17. Urges Member States thoroughly to assess the individual situation of
               persons released from the captivity of armed and terrorist groups so as to enable
               prompt identification of victims of trafficking, their treatment as victims of crime
               and to consider, in line with domestic legislation, not pros ecuting or punishing
               victims of trafficking for unlawful activities they committed as a direct result of
               having being subjected to trafficking;
                     18. Strongly condemns violations of international law, especially those which
               affect children in situations of armed conflict, including those involving killing and
               maiming, sexual violence, abduction and forced displacement, recruitment and use
               of children in armed conflict, attacks against schools and hospitals, denial of
               humanitarian access and trafficking in persons;
                    19. Urges Member States to identify children who are victims of trafficking
               and those who are unaccompanied or separated from their families and caregivers,
               to ensure, where relevant, their timely registration and to consider their particular
               protection needs, including, as appropriate, by referring them to the relevant child
               protection authorities regardless of their immigration status;
                     20. Recognizes the importance of providing timely and appropriate
               reintegration and rehabilitation assistance to children affected by armed conflict,
               while ensuring that the specific needs of girls and boys as well as children with
               disabilities are addressed, including access to health care, psychosocial support, and
               education programmes that contribute to the well-being of children and to
               sustainable peace and security and encourages relevant international organizations
               and civil societies organizations to assist Member States’ efforts in this regard;
                     21. Urges Member States to refrain from the use of administrative detention
               of children, especially those victims of trafficking in persons, for violations of
               immigration laws and regulations, unless as a measure of last resort, in the least
               restrictive setting, for the shortest possible period of time, under conditi ons that
               respect their human rights and in a manner that takes into account, as a primary
               consideration, the best interest of the child and encourages them to work towards
               the ending of this practice;
                     22. Requests the Secretary-General to further explore, as appropriate, links
               between the trafficking of children in conflict situations and the grave violations
               against children affected by armed conflict as determined by the United Nations,
               with a view to addressing all violations and abuses against children in armed
               conflict;
                    23. Welcomes further briefings on trafficking in persons in armed conflict, as
               necessary, by relevant United Nations entities, including the Executive Director of
               UNODC, UNHCR, and other international and regional bodies such as IOM, and
               encourages Member States to provide to UNODC information on victims of

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           trafficking from areas affected by conflict or victims trafficked into conflict areas
           for inclusion within the existing reporting obligations;
                 24. Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that the thematic paper on
           trafficking in persons in conflict situations developed by UNODC in consultation
           with relevant United Nations agencies and other international bodies is disseminated
           within the UN system, and encourages relevant United Nations agencies and entities
           to use it in their respective activities in accordance with their mandates and develop
           their capability to assess and respond to situations of trafficking in persons in armed
           conflict;
                25. Expresses its intention, to give greater consideration, where appropriate,
           to how peacekeeping and special political missions, can assist host States in
           exercising their primary responsibility to prevent and combat trafficking in persons,
           and requests the Secretary-General to ensure that assessments of country situations
           conducted upon the Security Council’s request on such missions include, where
           relevant, anti-trafficking research and expertise;
                 26. Requests the Secretary-General, in consultation with Member States, to
           ensure, where appropriate, that training of relevant personnel of special political and
           peacekeeping missions include, on the basis of a preliminary assessment and taking
           also into account the protection and assistance needs of the victims of trafficking in
           persons, specific information enabling them, within their mandates, to identify,
           confirm, respond to and report on situations of trafficking in persons;
                 27. Reiterates its intention to integrate the issue of trafficking in persons in
           areas affected by armed conflict into the work of relevant Security Council
           Sanctions Committees where in accordance with their mandates, and expresses its
           intention to invite all relevant Special Representatives of the Secretary -General,
           including the Special Representative of the Secretary -General for Children and
           Armed Conflict and the Special Representative of the Secretary -General on Sexual
           Violence in Conflict, to brief these sanctions committees, as necessary, in
           accordance with the Committee’s rules of procedure and to provide relevant
           information, including, if applicable, the names of individuals involved in the
           trafficking in persons who meet the committees’ designation criteria;
                 28. Also requests the Secretary-General to ensure that members of the
           Monitoring Groups, teams and panels supporting the work of relevant sanctions
           committees build their technical capacity to identify and report on instances of
           trafficking in persons encountered in the discharge of their duties and in accordance
           with their respective mandates, and further requests the Secretary-General to ensure
           that the Monitoring and Reporting Arrangements on sexual violence in areas
           affected by armed conflict systematically collect data on conflict -related trafficking
           in persons for the purpose of sexual violence or exploi tation;
                 29. Invites the Secretary-General to ensure that the work of the Investigative
           Team established pursuant to Resolution 2379 (2017) is informed by relevant
           anti-trafficking research and expertise and that its efforts to collect evidence on
           trafficking in persons offences are gender-sensitive, victim centred, traumainformed, rights-based and not prejudicial to the safety and security of victims;
                 30. Calls upon Member States to cooperate with the Investigative Team
           established pursuant to Resolution 2379 (2017), including through mutual
           arrangements on legal assistance, where necessary and appropriate, and in particular
           to provide it with any relevant information as appropriate they may possess
           pertaining to its mandate under that resolution;
                31. Calls upon United Nations system organizations to enhance transparency
           in their procurement and supply chains and step up their efforts to strengthen

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               protections against trafficking in persons in all United Nations procurement and to
               that effect request major suppliers to establish and implement anti-human
               trafficking policies and disclose information on measures taken to counter
               trafficking in persons in their operations and supply chains;
                    32. Welcomes efforts aimed at developing a coordinated response within the
               United Nations System to prevent and counter trafficking in persons in situations of
               armed conflict and to protect its victims, and requests all United Nations entities
               involved in combatting trafficking in persons to actively participate in the regular
               work of existing mechanisms, especially the Inter-Agency Coordination Group
               against Trafficking in Persons which was established to foster coordination among
               United Nations entities and other international organizations;
                     33. Invites the Secretary-General to include in relevant regular reports on
               special political and peacekeeping missions, information on efforts undertaken,
               within their mandates, to assist the host-States institutions in preventing and
               combating trafficking in persons and in protecting and assisting victims of
               trafficking, in particular women and children;
                     34. Requests the Secretary-General to follow-up on the implementation of
               this resolution and report back to the Security Council on progress made within 12
               months;
                    35.   Decides to remain actively seized of this matter.




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