Webinar 2: Developing trafficking in persons research questions

On 11 July 2023, the Inter-Agency Coordination Group against Trafficking in Persons (ICAT) held its second webinar, “Developing trafficking in persons research questions: Research to Action (RTA) & Human Trafficking Research Initiative (HTRI)”, as part of the six-webinar series on trafficking in persons data collection and research.

Mr. Lorenzo Guarcello from the International Labour Organization (ILO), Ms. Jeni Sorensen from Innovation for Poverty Actions (IPA), and Dr. Lorraine Wong from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and ILO presented human trafficking research and learning agendas and how to develop policy-relevant research questions. Dr. Casey Risko, contractor on behalf of the U.S. Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking Persons, moderated the discussion.

The recording of the webinar is available online.

RTA Global and National Research Agendas

The RTA Project aims at accelerating the use of rigorous research by policymakers and practitioners in support of efforts to tackle child labour, forced labour, and human trafficking around the world. The project is implemented by the ILO in cooperation with IOM and with funding from the United States Department of Labor. Among other outcomes, the RTA project is committed to developing global and national research agendas and strengthening the evidence base for achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 8.7, building on the Evidence Gap Maps on human trafficking, forced labour, and child labour.

The project works with funding partners, policymakers, researchers, and social partners to develop and continue updating a global research agenda, as well as national research agendas in five selected countries – Chile, Paraguay, Malawi, Nepal, and Uganda. The agendas are available in different languages.

HTRI Research and Learning Agenda

IPA’s Human Trafficking and Research Initiative (HTRI) seeks to expand the evidence on the primary drivers of human trafficking and the most effective ways to prevent this pervasive problem. HTRI brings together researchers and decision-makers to innovate and improve research methods as well as evaluate the effectiveness of interventions to prevent trafficking, prosecute crimes, and protect trafficked persons. HTRI has developed a human trafficking research and learning agenda, which outlines priority research questions and provides a working analytic framework to promote analysis of programs spanning the "4Ps" framework of human trafficking(prevention, protection, prosecution, and partnership).