Ukraine - IOM has trained 44 specialists from the Directorate General for Consular Service of Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on identification and assistance to victims of trafficking, as a part of their annual pre-departure consular training.

Experts from the IOM Missions in Ukraine, France and Slovakia, together with specialists from Polish and Ukrainian NGOs, and officials from the Ministry of Social Policy served as trainers at the Kiev workshop.

The training was organized by IOM Ukraine, the Ministry of Social Policy and the Directorate General for Consular Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as part of an EU-funded IOM project “Transnational Action – safe and sustainable return and reintegration for victims of Trafficking (TACT)”, managed by IOM Paris.

The training received positive feedback from participants and senior management of the Directorate General for Consular Service, who expressed an interest in conducting such trainings on a regular basis.

“Training members of the Consular Services of Ukraine, who act as frontline stakeholders to identify and offer protection to national victims of trafficking exploited abroad, is key to implement effective transnational referral mechanisms,” said TACT project manager Fanny Ruinart.

The 18-month TACT project, which started in May 2015, aims to reinforce cooperation between European Union member states and three priority countries – Albania, Morocco and Ukraine – in order to facilitate transnational referrals that contribute to the safe and sustainable return of victims of trafficking.

For further information please contact Victoria Mazurenko at IOM Kiev, Tel: +380 44 568 50 15 (Ext. 312), Email:  vmazurenko@iom.int. Or Fanny Ruinart at IOM Paris, Tel: +33 1 40 44 06 91, Email:  fruinart@iom.int