Foreign Policy Classroom Shines Light on Modern Slavery
From climate change, to defeating ISIL, to trafficking in persons, the youth of our nation are deeply committed to engaging with their leaders on serious global issues of the 21st century.
This thirst for knowledge and desire to be a part of the policy conversation was on display during our latest Foreign Policy Classroom briefing where college students from across the country met with Carl B. Fox, Deputy Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.
I am pleased that we are able to routinely discuss important international issues with student audiences through Foreign Policy Classroom, one of our signature public engagement initiatives. Launched in 2012, Foreign Policy Classroom is an academic-focused program, which provides high school and college students an opportunity to attend foreign policy briefings with U.S. Department of State officials in Washington, D.C. throughout the year. Since its inception, the Department has hosted hundreds of briefings with thousands of students from academic institutions throughout the nation.
In observance of National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, January’s program underscored President Obama’s message that all Americans can play a vital role in ending human trafficking. Also known as trafficking in persons or modern slavery, this crime knows no borders, and occurs in communities both small and large, in the United States and in countries around the world.
During the briefing, Mr. Fox underscored the critical need for all governments to proactively address modern slavery — a crime of exploitation — through prosecution, prevention, and protection efforts (known as the 3PFramework). He noted, at any given time, approximately 21 million people are victims of human trafficking around the world. Emphasizing the paramount importance of coordination within the federal government, Mr. Fox discussed the recent meeting of the President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, chaired by Secretary of State Kerry. Mr. Fox also highlighted the introduction of the United States Advisory Council on Human Trafficking, which was announced at the Task Force meeting and provides trafficking survivors a formal voice in federal anti-trafficking policy. This new Advisory Council, he shared, underscores the United States’ commitment to ensure survivors of human trafficking have a mechanism to provide input and expertise to federal agencies on U.S. anti-trafficking policy.
The students in attendance were keenly interested in learning what action they could take to heighten awareness of everyday citizens to identify human trafficking victims. Throughout the briefing, students inquired of the root causes of human trafficking, strategies for law enforcement, corporate responsibility, and programs in place to protect and assist victims. In response to their questions, Mr. Fox reiterated the State Department’s commitment to working with our federal colleagues and civil society partners to ensure that policies and practices are continually improved to better protect victims of human trafficking.
We believe that the best foreign policy starts with making it less foreign to those at home. This is why we must continuously strive to answer Secretary Kerry’s call for U.S. diplomats to bring their efforts home, to meet with Americans in Washington, D.C. and in communities throughout the country, and most importantly to share the story of America and its diplomacy.
This blog originally appeared on DipNote, the U.S. Department of State’s Official blog.
