IOM is distributing, through its national partner the Syrian Arab
Red Crescent Association (SARC), some 800 hygiene kits to Iraqi
female-headed families in Syria and victims of trafficking
currently assisted in two shelters in Damascus and Aleppo.

The distribution will ensure vulnerable women have access to
basic hygiene materials.

It will also provide short-term assistance to Iraqi
female-headed families and their children and reduce their
vulnerability to trafficking and exploitation.

"The kits containing soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes,
mops, tissues and other things will be distributed at (SARC)
headquarters in the Harasta suburb," says IOM's Ibrahim Massad.
"But the assistance provided through IOM and its partners to
vulnerable Iraqi families and individuals goes far beyond today's
distribution."

This initiative, part of a wider € 1.5 million European
Union (EU) funded programme, aims to provide comprehensive
assistance and protection to vulnerable Iraqi female-headed
families and victims of trafficking in Syria.

It includes the provision of medical and psychosocial
assistance, vocational training and long-term assistance to help
vulnerable families and victims of trafficking engage in
income-generating activities. Without means to find employment to
take care of their children, female-headed families in particular
remain vulnerable to human trafficking.

The Syrian government and IOM began their efforts to address
human trafficking in the country in 2005 following the arrival of
large numbers of Iraqis. Since then, counter-trafficking
initiatives in the country have expanded including a conference on
human trafficking held in Damascus in June 2010 and an
awareness-raising workshop on anti-trafficking measures organized
last month by IOM in conjunction with the Syrian Women's Union and
the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

A first shelter for victims of trafficking was opened in Damascus
in December 2008 funded by the Netherlands, the UN Children's Fund
(UNICEF) and the US State Department's Bureau of Population,
Refugees and Migration (PRM). Since then, it has assisted 124
victims of trafficking.

Earlier this year, a second shelter funded by the European Union
was opened in Aleppo in cooperation with the Syrian Ministry of
Social Affairs and Labour and the Juvenile Welfare Association for
Girls. The shelter has so far assisted 48 victims of
trafficking.

For more information please contact:

Maysa Ismael

IOM Damascus

Tel: +963-11-6121370, Ext. 370

E-mail: "mailto:mismael@iom.int">mismael@iom.int

or

Kinda Katranji

European Union

Tel: +963-11-332 7640, Ext. 149

E-mail: "mailto:kinda.katranji@ec.europa.eu">kinda.katranji@ec.europa.eu