05/23/2022 – 09:56

Principality of Liechtenstein

Vaduz (ots)

At the invitation of the Liechtenstein Embassy, ​​Daniel Thelesklaf, Ambassador Christian Wenaweser and Ambassador Isabel Frommelt-Gottschald presented the FAST initiative in Berlin. The expert briefing was opened by the German side by State Secretary Katja Hessel from the Federal Ministry of Finance and was acknowledged as an intended opportunity to raise awareness in the financial sector about the issue of human trafficking.

The FAST Initiative (Finance Against Slavery and Trafficking) is a multi-stakeholder initiative of the United Nations University that works to mobilize the financial sector against modern slavery. The aim of the initiative is to involve the global financial center in the fight against slavery and human trafficking, which are enormously lucrative illegal business models, and to hold them accountable.

As head of the FAST program in New York, Daniel Thelesklaf presented the initiative to an interested specialist audience and high-ranking audience, including representatives from state agencies, members of the Bundestag, representatives of federal ministries as well as think tanks and international organizations such as the Berlin offices of the OECD and the World Food Programme, the Science and Politics Foundation (SWP) and the nationwide coordination group against human trafficking. The diplomatic corps was also part of the event. Ambassador Wenaweser explains why Liechtenstein launched the initiative, how it is related to the SDGs and what goals it contains. He also recommended the private-public sector collaboration model for similar projects to implement the SDGs.

In the panel discussion that followed, the head of the German delegation to the FATF spoke about their role in combating the flow of money from human trafficking and a bank representative explained the indicators for detecting suspicious transactions related to human trafficking and labor exploitation and pointed to the importance of training and a risk-based approach approach. A German public prosecutor brought into the discussion that many victims see no possibility of taking action against their exploitation due to their desolate economic situation, which makes criminal prosecution of the crime very difficult.

Further FAST events in Germany are planned to intensify cooperation with the German authorities and the German financial center. Prime Minister Daniel Risch got the ball rolling when he personally presented the initiative to Chancellor Olaf Scholz on his first visit to Berlin.

Press contact:

Liechtenstein Embassy in Berlin
Isabel Frommelt-Gottschald, Ambassador
T +49 171 26 68 368