Viet Nam - Health care experts and social workers joined IOM Viet Nam and Vietnamese Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs at a two-day workshop in Tam Dao this week to discuss the identification of victims of human trafficking, their special health needs and the provision of appropriate care and assistance.  

The workshop, which was designed to build the capacity of social workers and frontline health care providers, attracted over 30 participants from eight provinces in the north, south and centre of Viet Nam.

Viet Nam is a country of origin, transit and destination of different forms of human trafficking, including trafficking for sexual and labour exploitation and forced marriage. Recent research also confirms cases of human trafficking inside the country.

‘The workshop brought together health care specialists and social workers to learn about the specific health care needs of victims who may need basic medical care, but are also often traumatized and require specialized support and assistance. Health care and social service providers need to work together closely to ensure that victims can recover both physically and mentally from their experience,” says Jobst Koehler, IOM’s Acting Chief of Mission in Viet Nam.

The project is part of an ongoing regional project: Study on Trafficking, Exploitation and Abuse of Migrants in Thailand, Cambodia and Viet Nam, funded by the ANESVAD Foundation and the IOM Development Fund. It is implemented by IOM missions and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

For more information please contact

Jobst Koehler Jobst
IOM Hanoi
Tel: + 84 (0) 4 3736 6258 (Ext. 107)
Email: jkoehler@iom.int