PROTOCOL TO PREVENT SUPPRESS AND PUNISH TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS ESPECIALLY WOMEN AND CHILDREN. SUPPLEMENTING THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION AGAINST TRANSNATIONALORGANIZED CRIME Preamble The States Parties to this protocol Declaring that effective action to prevent and combat trafficki persons, especially women and children, requires a comprehensive international approach in the countries of origin, transit and destination that includes measures to prevent such trafficking, to punish the traffickers and to protect the victims of such trafficking, including by protecting their internationally recognized human rights Taking into account the fact that, despite the existence of a variety of international instruments containing rules and practical measures to combat the exploitation of persons, especially women and children, there is no universal instrument that addresses all aspects of trafficking in persons, Concerned that, in the absence of such an instrument, persons who are vulnerable to trafficking will not be sufficiently protected Recalling General Assembly resolution 53/111 of 9 December 1998 in which the Assembly decided to establish an intergovernmental ad hoc committee for the purpose of elaborating a comprehensive international convention against transnational organized crime and of discussing the elaboration of, inter alia, an international instrument addressing trafficking in women and children, Convinced that supplementing the United Nations Convention gainst Transnational Organized Crime with an international instrument for the prevention, suppression and punishment of trafficking in pers sons especially women and children, will be useful in preventing and combating that crime Have agreed as follows Article I Relation with the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime This Protocol supplements the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. It shall be interpreted together with the ConventionPROTOCOL TO PREVENT, SUPPRESS AND PUNISH TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS, ESPECIALLY WOMEN AND CHILDREN, SUPPLEMENTING THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION AGAINST TRANSNATIONALORGANIZED CRIME Preamble The States Parties to this Protocol, Declaring that effective action to prevent and combat trafficking in persons, especially women and children, requires a comprehensive international approach in the countries of origin, transit and destination that includes measures to prevent such trafficking, to punish the traffickers and to protect the victims of such trafficking, including by protecting their internationally recognized human rights, Taking into account the fact that, despite the existence of a variety of international instruments containing rules and practical measures to combat the exploitation of persons, especially women and children, there is no universal instrument that addresses all aspects of trafficking in persons, Concerned that, in the absence of such an instrument, persons who are vulnerable to trafficking will not be sufficiently protected, Recalling General Assembly resolution 53/111 of 9 December 1998, in which the Assembly decided to establish an open-ended intergovernmental ad hoc committee for the purpose of elaborating a comprehensive international convention against transnational organized crime and of discussing the elaboration of, inter alia, an international instrument addressing trafficking in women and children, Convinced that supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime with an international instrument for the prevention, suppression and punishment of trafficking in persons, especially women and children, will be useful in preventing and combating that crime, Have agreed as follows: I. General provisions Article 1 Relation with the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime 1. This Protocol supplements the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. It shall be interpreted together with the Convention