Inaugural Regional Partner Forum on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings in Eastern and South Eastern Europe

The first Regional Partner Forum under the Danish Programme Against Human Trafficking in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe took place in Kyiv on 4-5 April 2006.

The Danish Programme works primarily through international and non-governmental organisations, as well as government bodies, to support prevention and protection efforts to fight human trafficking. It will cover five Eastern European Countries, focusing on Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova; its regional component will also include Bulgaria and Romania.

H.E. Mr. Uffe Balslev, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Denmark to Ukraine; Ms. Anne-Marie Esper Larsen, Head of Department of the Neighbourhood Programme of the Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Mr. Yuriy Pavlenko, Minister for Youth, Family and Sports of Ukraine; Mr. Jeffrey Labovitz, Chief of IOM Mission in Ukraine; and Mr. Fredric Larsson, Sub-Regional Counter-Trafficking Programme Coordinator, Deputy Chief of IOM Mission in Ukraine opened the Partner Forum and answered questions from the media.

During the Forum, representatives of IOM Kyiv, OSCE Kyiv, La Strada Ukraine, IOM Minsk, Young Women Christian Association of Belarus, IOM Chisinau, La Strada Moldova, Centre for Prevention of Trafficking in Women (Belarus), Animus Association/La Strada Bulgaria, IOM Bucharest, International Red Cross Society (Ukraine) discussed a three-year plan of Programme implementation.

Finally, the Programme implementers signed Memoranda of Understanding with the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Eight national TV and four radio channels covered the opening, as well as five Ukrainian newspapers:

5tv “Denmark will help the Eastern European Countries to Combat Human Trafficking”

Podrobnosti-TV “Ukraine has got 1million dollars from Kingdom of Denmark”

TONIS “180 human trafficking channels are mopped up in Ukraine”