Special Representative on Human Trafficking

In order to facilitate the presence and involvement of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in the international debate on trafficking issues, President Bruce George appointed United States Congressman Christopher Smith as his Special Representative on Human Trafficking Issues in February 2004. He was reappointed by President Goran Lennmarker in November 2007 and by President Joao Soares in the summer of 2009.

In the initial appointment Mr. Lennmarker stressed the importance of closely following the discussions and proposlas in the international arena on the issue of trafficking.

Mr. Smith, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey since 1981, serves as the ranking member of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Helsinki Commission). He has long been active in human trafficking issues in the U.S. Congress as well as in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

Mandate:

• Collect information on human trafficking in the OSCE region.
• Promote dialogue in the OSCE, in its Parliamentary Assembly in particular, on how to combat human trafficking.
• Advise the Assembly both on the implementation of its agreed policies in these matters as well as on the development of new policies.
• Consider how to protect the victims and how to combat the criminal elements involved.
• Communicate with relevant actors within the OSCE  who work on issues concerning human trafficking.