Vice-President Neri speaks at the OSCE Mediterranean Conference.MONACO, 29 October 2013 – OSCE PA Vice-President Alain Neri (France) represented the Parliamentary Assembly at the OSCE Mediterranean Conference held in Monaco on 28-29 October 2013. This year the conference was held on the topic of "enhancing the role of women in public, political and economic life."

As a panellist in the second session of the conference, Vice-President Neri introduced the topic "social and economic impact of trafficking for labour exploitation and the role of the business sector," a growing problem in the Mediterranean region.

In his address, he recalled that just over a year ago, Monaco was the host of the 21st OSCE PA Annual Session and that the last edition of the PA's Mediterranean Forum was held barely two weeks ago in Budva, Montenegro. Building on the experience accumulated by the OSCE PA in dealing with the issue of trafficking in human beings and particularly focusing on the outcome of the Istanbul session, Vice-President Neri expressed his expectation that parliamentarians adopt measures to protect workers' rights to avoid a worsening situation for the rights of women, migrants and children and to prevent human trafficking for labour exploitation.

He further called on diplomats and parliamentarians to set an example by ensuring respect for these rights and referred to the relationship between the legal status of female migrant workers and their degree of protection from abuse and exploitation. In this regard, Neri gave priority to the creation of a preventive measure for legal migration channels for women.