Trafficking in Human Beings in Southeastern Europe - Iom

Trafficking in Human Beingsin Southeastern EuropeRepublic ofMoldovaIn the last two years local NGOs have been very actively involved in preventionwork. They have received support from the US State Department, the USEmbassy, and other donors to organise information and awareness raisingcampaigns. There are six NGOs directly involved in these activities: the Associationfor Women Lawyers, CIVIS, Civic Initiative, Gender Centre, the Associationfor Youth Development and La Strada, which became active in Moldovain May 2001.NGOs have engaged in a broad range of activities: publications includingbooks, magazines, leaflets and brochures; media campaigns; advertisementcampaigns; and documentaries about trafficking. The Association for YouthDevelopment conducted seminars for young women and distributed materialsfor raising awareness in high schools.The Association for Women Lawyers is currently administering a Centre for thePrevention of Trafficking in Women. This project was launched on 15 February2001 with U.S. Government funding. Initially, the Centre concentrated ondeveloping a clear strategy for a multi-media campaign. It then went on toutilise radio, television, billboards and newspapers to publicise its anti-traffickingmessage. In addition, it publishes and distributes a monthly newsletterand brochures. It has also established and operates an anti-trafficking telephonehotline in Moldova. The Centre has developed contacts, which allow itto address requests from trafficked persons or from their families to the Ministryof the Interior. The Centre now co-ordinates local law enforcement, NGOsand international organisations dealing with trafficking in women. It has providedupdated information and statistics on trafficking to all these groups andsupported their anti-trafficking efforts.La Strada launched a prevention and education campaign in mid-2001,through seminars for groups at risk in educational institutions throughoutMoldova, including boarding schools, orphanages, high schools and technicalschools. Presently, La Strada is negotiating with the Ministry of Education forapproval and support for a programme of extracurricular education and preventionseminars in educational institutions. Seminars on trafficking for schoolstaff are also conducted. To ensure the continuity and effectiveness of the preventioncampaign, La Strada is creating a network of local NGOs.Other activities planned by La Strada and other NGOs include:• Collecting materials about trafficking and anti-trafficking initiatives;• “Women on Labour Market” project – creating jobs for women andalso for trafficked persons;• “Human Rights of Women” seminars providing general informationabout women’s rights and information about trafficking;• Consulting and supporting a number of foreign TV stations preparingdocumentaries about trafficking;• Preparing a database of organisations working on trafficking;.• Publishing educational materials on the issue of trafficking;• Organising round tables with NGOs on prevention and social assistance.32Between 1999 – 2001, the International NGO Winrock International, ran aprogramme of:• Research - comprehensive research on the prevalence and patternsof domestic violence and trafficking in women, and the relevant legislation,regulations, procedures in its four project countries;• Training Design and Implementation - capacity building for NGOs toenhance their ability to train multi-disciplinary community audiences,and become long-term monitors of the criminal justice system; and