The Committee of Parties to the Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs (Santiago de Compostela Committee) held its 7th plenary meeting (16-17 October) in Strasbourg driving forward ambitious actions to combat organ trafficking.

States Parties met to take stock of recent progress, exchange insights on monitoring the Convention’s implementation and discuss new perspectives for cross-border cooperation and prevention.

One of the highlights of the meeting was the adoption of the Summary Report of the Country Profile Questionnaire and the discussion on the preliminary results of the 1^st Monitoring round which focuses on preventive initiatives and their effective implementation within national frameworks. The monitoring remains a key pillar of the global effort to fight against organ trafficking. The Santiago de Compostela Committee also agreed on the theme of the 2^nd Monitoring round marking an important step to strengthen the collective efforts in this area.

Marking the 10^th anniversary of the Convention, State Parties contributed to the production of a commemorative video celebrating a decade of firm cooperation and reaffirming the Council of Europe’s strong commitment to combating this scourge.

It also welcomed two organisations as observers to the Santiago de Compostela Committee: World Patients Alliance and Eurotransplant expanding its diversity and reinforcing the multi-stakeholder approach to this complex issue.

For more information on the topics discussed, please consult the  Agenda meeting.