The United Nations launched on August 31 2010 a global action plan to combat human trafficking, with senior UN officials urging that governments worldwide take co-ordinated and consistent measures to try to defeat the scourge.

The plan, launched at a high-level meeting of the General Assembly at UN Headquarters in New York, calls for integrating the fight against human trafficking into the UN’s broader programmes to boost development and strengthen security around the world, the UN News Service said.

It also calls for the setting up of a UN voluntary trust fund for victims of trafficking, especially women and children.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the launch meeting that the action plan should serve as "a clarion call" to UN member states, international organisations and civil society groups of the need to take immediate steps "to stop this terrible crime against human dignity, which shames us all."

The UN has estimated that more than 2.4 million people are currently being exploited as victims of human trafficking.

"It is slavery in the modern age," Ban said. "Every year thousands of people, mainly women and children, are exploited by criminals who use them for forced labour or the sex trade. No country is immune. Almost all play a part, either as a source of trafficked people, transit point or destination."

He urged countries, philanthropists and others to contribute generously to the new trust fund for trafficking victims.

"The fund aims to help governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) provide these vulnerable people with protection and support for their physical, psychological and social recovery. After they have been exploited and abused, they should not be punished, too."

The action plan – which focuses on preventing trafficking, prosecuting offenders and protecting victims – also emphasises the importance of obtaining more research, data and analysis about the problem.

"We must improve our knowledge and understanding of this crime if we are to make good policy decisions and targeted interventions," Ban said.

He said that the only way to succeed is to strengthen partnerships between states, organisations and programmes, such as the UN Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking, known as UN.GIFT since its creation in early 2007.