RIYADH — President of the Human Rights Commission (HRC) Awwad Al-Awwad, who is also and the chairman of the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking (NCCHT), reiterated that Saudi Arabia is keen to protect and promote human rights, and is combating human trafficking through a set of procedures and measures to ensure human dignity and protect it from all forms of abuse and exploitation. Al-Awwad made his statement on the occasion of World Day against Trafficking in Persons 2021, adding that the Kingdom, under the directives of King Salman and the supervision of Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman has made great progress in the classifications and indicators of combating human trafficking. He added that Saudi Arabia is making all efforts to combat human trafficking crimes through the adopting and introduction of several measures, such as the establishment of the NCCHT and the enactment of regulations and legislations that emphasize the protection of victims and the preservation of their rights in addition to its commitment to all relevant local and international conventions and treaties. He added that Saudi Arabia has been keen to make the necessary efforts to implement and adhere to initiatives and mechanisms that ensure their activation, referring in this regard to the national referral mechanism for human trafficking crimes launched by the Kingdom, which represents a national reference that guarantees better cooperation to combat this crime and enhance awareness of the relevant regulatory, legal and procedural aspects and enhance the protection of victims and ensuring that services are provided to them in an integrated manner, and contributes to the monitoring and treatment of cases. Al-Awwad added that Saudi Arabia has sought through these unremitting efforts to protect and promote human rights as a well-established principle of its values to preserve human dignity, underscoring the efforts of the Committee to Combat Trafficking in Persons, which contributed to Saudi Arabia"s advancement by preparing a national strategy to combat these crimes and establishing a database for them.