Riyadh, June 26, 2020, SPA -- The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia obtained an improved ranking on the US State Department’s Trafficking, in Person’s report. The opening remarks of the report, which now holds the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, at Tier 2 Watchlist, recognized ‘significant efforts’ and ‘greater transparency’ in the Kingdom government’s response to Trafficking in Persons. The report is recognized as the most comprehensive overview of the situation of governmental response to trafficking in 187 countries across the world. The Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have drafted previously Memorandum of Understanding and signed it, in 2016, through the launch of a program with the Human Rights Commission (HRC) to address trafficking response, in January 2020. The program hosts an ambitious series of activities, focused on the prevention of trafficking and protection of those affected by the crime. Simultaneously, the HRC is working with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to strengthen the prosecution response. In March 2020, the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, formally launched its National Referral Mechanism (NRM), which brings together key stakeholders, in a multi-entity platform that coordinates trafficking response, in the Kingdom. The newly launched program with IOM and UNODC will support the Government of the Kingdom to operationalize the NRM and capacitate those concerned with trafficking response. Carmela Godeau, IOM Regional Director for Middle East and North Africa, on hearing of the improved ranking within the TiP Report, said: "The TiP report represents a global standard for response to trafficking, in persons, and the improvement of the ranking of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a recognition of the concerted efforts the Government of the Kingdom has made this year, to improve its response structure. IOM is glad to be a key partner in the efforts and expects to build on recent momentum for years to come." The report was released on 25 June 2020. -- SPA 21:47 LOCAL TIME 18:47 GMT 0024 www.spa.gov.sa/w1358556