A two-day European-wide conference hosted by IOM and aimed at
advancing counter-trafficking policies and practices in Europe and
at strengthening transnational cooperation networks begins tomorrow
in the Belgian capital, Brussels.

The event will gather more than 25 representatives from the main
national organisations in Europe engaged in counter-trafficking as
well as guest speakers from the European Commission, Europol and
the Belgian government.

The conference is the culmination of a three-year IOM programme
focusing on sharing best European practices and standards on
counter-trafficking among European Union (EU) Member States and EU
neighbouring countries, including major countries of origin for
trafficking victims such as Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova.

The programme, funded by the EU and the Belgian, Italian, Greek
and Turkish governments, has also played a significant role in
ensuring a harmonized approach, particularly through the
implementation of an extensive training programme both at the
regional and at the national level.

As part of the programme, a Guide on Best Practices in Combating
Trafficking in Persons was developed and translated into nine
languages and is now included into the national law enforcement
curricula of several countries.

"One of the programme’s main achievements has been to
bring together practitioners of the criminal justice sector with
social workers and NGO representatives dealing with the protection
of victims," says Bernd Hemingway, IOM’s Regional
Representative to the European Union and Belgium.

A set of recommendations will be presented at the event which
includes the need to keep victims at the centre of any
counter-trafficking strategy, including for forced labour.

For further information, please contact:

Monica Zanette

IOM Brussels

Tel +32 2 235 66 97

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

or

Christophe Fleureau Dauloudet

Tel +32 2 282 45 67

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