A/HRC/15/27 (Argentina), the Suzanne Mubarak International Women’s Peace Movement (Egypt), International Federation Terre des Hommes (Switzerland), the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and the International Catholic Child Bureau. 40. The plenary discussion affirmed the importance of States, the international community and civil society taking seriously the obligation to actively prevent trafficking and related exploitation. It was generally agreed that that required the underlying causes of trafficking to be addressed. The factors most commonly cited as “causes of trafficking” included those that: (a) increased vulnerability of victims and potential victims; (b) created or sustained demand for the goods and services produced by trafficked persons; and (c) created or sustained an environment within which traffickers and their accomplices could operate with impunity. From that perspective, prevention could be seen to include a wide range of measures – from providing women with fair and equal migration opportunities, to strengthening the criminal justice response in order to end impunity and deter future trafficking-related crimes. 41. Other issues raised during the plenary discussion included: the need to focus on root causes and on longer-term strategies; the importance of prevention programmes focusing on corruption; the need to analyse how anti-trafficking funds were spent, in particular those allocated for prevention; mainstreaming of anti-trafficking approaches in development policies as a means of addressing vulnerability; opportunities to involve business in prevention by encouraging zero tolerance to trafficking and helping businesses clean up their supply chain; addressing the particular vulnerabilities of minorities who were often excluded from the labour market; the link between prevention and migration including child migration and the challenge of ensuring that prevention did not stop movement; the importance of reducing demand and punishing businesses that recruited trafficked labour; and the insufficiency of an approach that prioritized awareness campaigns over other prevention strategies that were looking into the broader context. 42. Good practices identified by respondents included the interviewing of victims by trained officials; non-criminalization of prostitution; non-discriminatory access to assistance and justice; witness protection, international cooperation, strong birth registration procedures; and training of consular officials to identify and help victims of trafficking in the country of exploitation. The important role of the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, established in 1999, in supporting organizations working on prevention of trafficking was acknowledged. Klara Skrivankova, a member of the Board of the Fund, appealed to Member States to consider donating to the Fund. The role of multi-agency efforts, such as UN.GIFT, as vehicles for collaboration among United Nations agencies and IGOs on prevention of trafficking was noted. 43. Following the plenary discussion, each of the three panellists made brief concluding remarks. All referred to the importance of strengthening the capacity of those who are at the forefront of preventing trafficking including NGOs. The need for coordination of efforts was also generally noted: the task of preventing trafficking and of reintegrating victims required a collaborative approach. All stressed the need to work together to prevent trafficking and to reintegrate victims. The speakers also agreed that there was a need to better track prevention efforts in order to assess impact and identify good practices that could be shared. The Principles and Guidelines provided a robust framework for prevention at both national and international levels. 44. In concluding, the nominated respondent for the session, Mr. Mike Dottridge, an international expert on trafficking, observed that the Principles and Guidelines took a strong human rights approach to prevention. Poverty was often mentioned in connection with prevention but it was worth noting that poverty was a context for trafficking, not only a cause. Not all poor people were trafficked. It was necessary to recognize the subtleties of the challenges facing people in less developed countries and regions. Over the past decade, 12