Minsk – As Belarus continues to be a source and destination country for human trafficking, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) continues to work with the government to educate youth on the phenomenon of modern-day slavery. 

This week, the third annual youth camp, entitled 'LEARN.ACT.SHARE' brought together a group of young people to discuss and react to human trafficking. 

The camp is traditionally organized in mid-July, shortly before the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, and is led by IOM in partnership with other UN agencies, the Government of Belarus, NGOs and private companies.  

“Belarus continues to face challenges as a source and destination country for human trafficking. It is vital that we continue to engage active people in raising awareness for cascading information into their local communities,” said Tatiana Verigo, Senior Programme Assistant at IOM Belarus. “After the LEARN phase provided during this initiative, our participants will be able to ACT and SHARE.” 

The camp is facilitated using a non-formal education approach and includes a wide variety of methods and activities, from informative lectures to role plays and quests. 

The programme is demanding but also gives a lot of room for creativity and team-building. The 18 participants will explore theory and practical aspects of preventative measures: from introduction about what human trafficking is to national counter-trafficking efforts, and the correlation between HIV/AIDS, refugee streams and domestic violence in human trafficking. 

One of the significant outcomes expected at the end of this week is the development of project ideas by the participants to further refine and implement them in their own communities. The participants will learn tools for project development and participate in creative workshops, for example, on making social videos on the topic. 

“On the first day we learned about what is human trafficking, the scale of the problem, types and safety measures. I am excited to learn more from other guests and speakers and already looking forward to organizing preventive activities at my college,” says Darya Litvyakova, one of the participants. 

As before, IOM will support these young people in refining their project ideas into project proposals or draft plans of action for the implementation in the coming months. 

The youth summer camp is the part of the IOM X Belarus campaign launched together with the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Belarus with the support of USAID and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

Daily video and photo updates will be available on http://x.iom.by. 

For more information please contact Olga Borzenkova at IOM Belarus, Tel: +375 17 2882742. Email oborzenkova@iom.int