A/HRC/14/32 99. COMMIT in the Mekong region has taken relevant steps to include men and boys in the COMMIT national plans, anti-trafficking laws and MOUs that previously focused solely on women and children, thereby reinforcing certain myths and stereotypes about the issue. It has encouraged member States who are also parties to the Palermo Protocol to adopt its definition, which covers trafficking of all persons, including men, and in all its forms, including trafficking for labour exploitation, which in some sectors, such as agriculture or fishing, predominantly affects men.7 Furthermore, it acknowledges the differential risks to exploitation in sex-division of labour and addresses gender-based vulnerabilities to trafficking in persons. 100. In this context, regional organizations have a key role to play in promoting the elimination of gender-based misconceptions that prevent authorities from providing appropriate protection and assistance to all victims of trafficking, women and men, girls and boys. Cooperation with civil society 101. Civil society actors, particularly NGOs that have acquired specific expertise, have a role to play in the development, implementation and evaluation of anti-trafficking policies and programmes. In some cases, they are very well placed to provide services to victims or inputs into governmental policies. In this regard, the OHCHR Guidelines include various recommendations on the way NGOs and other civil society organizations should be involved in the efforts to fight trafficking, as key partners. Regional organizations have a role to play in promoting effective partnerships between Governments and civil society, and between themselves and civil society. Building such effective partnerships remains a challenge. Cooperation with the private sector 102. Cooperation with the private sector, particularly the tourism sector, with regard to sexual tourism, has not been identified by many organizations as a potential way to combat human trafficking from a prevention perspective. The use of new information technologies 103. The CoE is one of the few organizations that has addressed the impact of new information technologies on human trafficking, issuing a report on the “Impact of the use of new information technologies on trafficking in human beings for the purpose of sexual exploitation”. The fact that both the demand for, and the recruitment of, victims are increasingly being channelled through technologies such as the Internet, poses completely new challenges in terms of prevention and law enforcement responses to trafficking. Regional cooperation in the conduct of studies and the development of recommendations in this area could be instrumental. Collection of data 104. Without information and statistics, it is difficult to determine the extent of trafficking in persons and to develop appropriate policies. Regional organizations, because of their broader perspective, could take a leading role in collecting data in order to gain a clearer understanding of the root causes, factors in countries of destination facilitating 7 GE.10-13211 In 2002, UNIAP and UNIFEM produced a Briefing Kit, Trafficking in Persons: A Gender and Rights Perspective, which covers a number of gender issues linked to trafficking. 19