British pastor appointed U.N. special adviser

WASHINGTON — Steve Chalke, a Baptist pastor from Britain, has been appointed special adviser to the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT).

Chalke, chair of Stop the Traffik, a global coalition of some 1,000 organizations and charities in 50 countries that works to stop the buying and selling of people, will advise the U.N. on community action against human trafficking within the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

UN.GIFT was launched in March 2007 by the UNODC and is managed in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration, the International Labor Organization, the U.N. Children’s Fund, the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Human trafficking is "the world’s fastest growing crime," and is "a great evil" that needs to be defeated, Chalke said. Approximately 2.5 million people, mostly aged 18 to 24, become victims of human trafficking worldwide each year, generating an estimated $31 billion.