| dc.description.abstract | I would like to thank the two consultants who helped prepare this paper, Mike Dottridge, the main author, who has worked on the topic for many years, and Vera Gracheva, who prepared detailed information concerning one region. I would also like to thank my Deputy, Ruth Freedom Pojman, whose idea it was to investigate this topic and who also provided substantive inputs and support to the consultants throughout its preparation. Numerous reports have been published in recent years on the general topic of business and human rights, but this one is special, as it focuses specifically on what businesses can do to stop trafficking in human beings and on the way that States should encourage and support them. As director of a human rights organization focusing on modern forms of slavery, Mike Dottridge began investigating the links between business and human rights in the 1990s. Over the past decade he has contributed to several reports prepared by the OSCE Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, as well as to anti-trafficking initiatives by other organizations. In 2011 he presented the early findings for this study at a conference of the Alliance against Trafficking in Persons. Vera Gracheva became involved in the preparation of the study as a specialist on the topic of trafficking in human beings in the post-Soviet region. She collected information about relevant practices available in Russian language sources, which enriched the substance and broadened the geographical coverage of this paper, in both the chapter dedicated to the region and other parts. I would like to thank everyone who read and commented on drafts of this study, particularly Noelle Damico, Jeff Ballinger, Vera Gracheva and Ruth Freedom Pojman. I would also like to convey our gratitude to the OSCE anti-trafficking focal points who assisted in obtaining the information in the countries where they are based. Thanks are due too to the many individuals in organizations focusing on business and human rights who contributed information and patiently answered our consultants’ questions. Together with Vera Gracheva, I would like to thank the representatives of the Russian business community and NGOs who responded so positively to this research and helped to navigate the multiple sources of information. My special thanks go to the two members of my Office, Claire Jessel, Administrative Assistant, and Alfred Kueppers, Public Information Officer, who assisted with proofreading and copy-editing and who managed the production process of the publication. Ambassador Madina Jarbussynova OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings | en_US |
