Armenia's Ministry of Education and Science (MoES) has introduced
new educational materials to sensitize schoolchildren aged between
15-17 years on the dangers of human trafficking.

The new curriculum was developed under an IOM regional
counter-trafficking programme targeting secondary schools in
Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia supported by the Swiss Agency for
Development and Cooperation (SDC).

Materials were designed by a team of national experts comprising
pedagogues, lawyers, psychologists and sociologists and include
trafficking prevention manuals for students and teachers, an
information booklet for parents and awareness-raising materials for
public outreach. These include educational posters and public
service announcements.

The new counter-trafficking materials will complement existing
Social Science courses addressing key issues such as the root
causes and types of human trafficking, youth as an especially
vulnerable group, and assistance to and protection of victims of
trafficking.  Prior to its introduction nationwide, the
curriculum was piloted in 18 schools, followed by country-wide
teacher training of 1,500 educators from 1,420 schools in addition
to 200 vocational education instructors.

The Deputy Minister of Education and Science has commended the
initiative while noting ongoing challenges such as
awareness-raising among university students, providing further
training for school teachers and strengthening cooperation between
academic institutions, civil society and law enforcement on
combating human trafficking.

"IOM welcomes the strong collaboration with the Armenian
Ministry of Education and Sciences which has been pivotal to
putting in place the new curriculum and looks forward to supporting
further educational efforts to preventing human trafficking," says
IOM Chief of Mission in Armenia, Ilona Terminasyan.

The US State Department's 2010 Trafficking in Persons Report
identifies Armenia as a source country for women trafficked as sex
workers and men for forced labour and as both a source and
destination country for women trafficked for forced labour.

For more information, please contact:

Kristina Galstyan

IOM Yerevan

Tel: (+374 10) 585692, Ext. 112

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