PROJECT TITLE: Improving the Institutional Capacity of the Agencies Involved in the Prevention of Trafficking of Human Beings in line with the Current European Standards and Best Practices
COUNTRIES: Romania
OVERALL OBJECTIVE: To reduce human trafficking in Romania at the national and regional level through operationalizing and strengthening the national integrated system for the monitoring, evaluation and prevention of trafficking in persons, the identification and referral of victims, as well as the protection and assistance of victims in view of their social reintegration.
ACTIVITIES:
The project envisaged three components touching at the different dimensions of the counter-trafficking action.
The first component aimed at training personnel in carrying out surveys, studies, researches and reports for the evaluation of the phenomenon of trafficking in human beings, focusing on children. The final goal was to make operational the Research and Public Information Centre. Activities included:
- A three-week internship for two experts of the Research and Public Information Centre on data collection, analysis and interpretation, research methodologies with the view of performing national and regional studies;
- A seminar on carrying out studies on trafficking in persons in line with the European standards and best practices;
- Carrying out a national study for understanding the dimension of the trafficking in children phenomenon;
- Drafting a handbook on carrying out studies in the field of trafficking in persons.
- A seminar on communication strategies with regard to trafficking in persons’ issues for the personnel of the Agency.
The second component included prevention programs and campaigns designing and implementation and the development of type trafficking specific strategies, focusing on prevention specific strategies for different environments and for women, with views to streamlining the prevention measures and the increasing of the awareness on national level regarding the risks of trafficking in persons for sexual and labour exploitation. Activities included:
- A study visit to Germany for training in designing and implementing prevention programmes, prevention campaigns and volunteer networks;
- A seminar on developing specific prevention strategies focused on gender, types of trafficking and different environments, as well as on developing public-private partnerships for preventing trafficking in persons;
- A workshop on drawing-up a guide for developing and implementing specific prevention strategies;
- Implementation of the national campaign for combating discrimination of women and sexual exploitation through assessing the information needs, creating the message, designing the campaign material, create the video spot production, identifying partners, implementing the campaign and evaluating the impact;
- Drawing-up, publishing and disseminating a handbook on how to carry out and evaluate different types of prevention campaigns;
- A study visit to a MS for training on methods of effective management of structural or other EU funds used for addressing trafficking in persons via the development of information-prevention programmes for vulnerable people coming from rural or other disadvantaged environments.
The third component focused on identification, assistance, rehabilitation and reintegration of the victims of trafficking, in particular through trainings on implementing the identification and referral mechanism. In that case the goal was to increase the intervention capacity of the actors involved in the process of victim identification, referral and assistance through providing quality multidisciplinary services. Activities included:
- A study visit to Greece for training in identification and referral of the victims, inter-agency cooperation, rehabilitation and reintegration of the victims;
- Workshops for consultation on improving the identification and referral mechanisms in accordance with the EU regulations and MSs best practices;
- Drawing-up a report on the improvement of the national identification and referral mechanism; Drawing-up the improved mechanism of identification and referral and possible amendments;
- Three trainings for 150 representatives of local authorities on implementing the identification and referral mechanisms, problem solving and inter-agency cooperation.
FUNDING AGENCY: European Commission
LEADER: EPLO, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights (Austria),Foundation for International Legal Co-operation (Germany)
PARTNERS: Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights (Austria), Foundation for International Legal Co-operation (Germany)
TIME FRAME: 2008-2010