A/HRC/26/37 addenda to this report. She thanks the Governments for their cooperation prior to and during the visits. III. First decade of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children 11. The issue of trafficking in persons arrived on the international agenda in the mid1990s with the commencement of work on a new treaty on trafficking, with a particular focus on organized criminal aspects, which would address the gaps in the understanding of trafficking in persons. In December 2000, the General Assembly adopted the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, the first international agreement on trafficking in persons since the adoption by the General Assembly in 1949 of the narrowly focused Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others. The adoption of the Protocol signalled a fundamental shift in the international approach to the exploitation of individuals for private profit. In the years that followed, other treaties on the subject were developed, along with a substantial body of soft law, including the Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking (E/2002/68/Add.1). International and regional bodies, along with civil society groups, became involved in researching the issue of trafficking and supporting anti-trafficking efforts, and States began to introduce new laws and policies aimed at criminalizing trafficking, protecting victims and preventing future trafficking. One State launched a unilateral monitoring mechanism that began reporting on, and evaluating the response of other States to, the issue of trafficking in persons. 12. The present review of the mandate seeks to examine and reflect on the first decade of work of the Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in persons, especially women and children, with particular attention paid to the principle that have informed the mandate since its inception, namely that the human rights of trafficked persons are at the centre of anti-trafficking efforts and that measures taken against trafficking should not adversely affect the human rights and dignity of all persons. The review is not exhaustive. Rather, it draws on documentation produced by the Special Rapporteur to identify key achievements and ongoing challenges within the context of global anti-trafficking efforts. In addition to providing a record of the work of the mandate, the Special Rapporteur seeks to draw lessons and insights for the future work of the mandate and the anti-trafficking sector as a whole. 13. While initiated by the current mandate holder, the review covers the whole duration of the mandate to date, including the work of the first mandate holder, Sigma Huda, between 2004 and 2007. Its preparation involved a desk review and analysis of the documentation produced by the two mandate holders, including annual and thematic reports, country mission reports, communications sent to Governments, statements from the mandate holders, research and reports of meetings. The Special Rapporteur also circulated a questionnaire to Member States and organizations to solicit their views on the achievements of the mandate and its future areas of work.1 14. The mandate has received valuable support from a wide range of stakeholders and partners, including States, United Nations agencies and international organizations, 1 4 For more detail, see Addendum 2 to the present report entitled “Stocktaking exercise on the work of the mandate on its tenth anniversary”.