A delegation of the Council of Europe's Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) carried out an evaluation visit to Ukraine form 21 to 23 May 2024, as part of the third evaluation round of the Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. The focus of this evaluation round of the Convention is on trafficking victims’ access to justice and effective remedies. Prior to the visit, the Ukrainian authorities provided a reply to GRETA’s questionnaire for the third evaluation round.
The visit provided an opportunity to assess progress in the implementation of the Convention by Ukraine since GRETA’s second report, published in 2018. The third GRETA evaluation visit to Ukraine was originally planned to take place in 2022, but had to be postponed due to the full-scale invasion by Russia.
During the visit, the GRETA delegation met Ms Uliana Tokarieva, Deputy Minister of Social Policy, responsible for the co-ordination of national anti-trafficking action, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Social Policy, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Economy, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the National Police (Migration Police Department, Cyber Police Department and Main Investigative Department), the National Social Service, the State Service on Labour Issues, the State Employment Service, the State Border Service, the State Migration Service, the State Bureau of Investigation, and the Security Service of Ukraine. The GRETA delegation also met representatives of the National School of Judges, the National Agency on Civil Service, and the Training Centre for Prosecutors. A meeting was also held with Ms Kateryna Levchenko, Government Commissioner for Gender Policy. Further, the GRETA delegation met representatives of the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine.
In addition to holding meetings in Kyiv, the GRETA delegation travelled to Lviv in order to collect information about the situation in the area of combating trafficking in human beings at regional and local level. Meetings were held with the Coordinating Council on Family Policy at the Lviv Regional Military Administration with representatives of agencies dealing with combating human trafficking and identifying and assisting victims of trafficking.
Separate meetings were held with representatives of non-governmental organisations and lawyers representing victims of trafficking. The GRETA delegation also met officials of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the United National Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Women.
In the course of the visit, the GRETA delegation visited the Medical Rehabilitation Centre for Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings run by the IOM in Kyiv and the Department of Social and Psychological Assistance of the Lviv Regional Centre of Social Services. The GRETA delegation also observed the conduct of a simulation-based training on human trafficking for professionals from Kharkiv, Luhansk and Poltava regions.
The visit was carried out by Mr Sergey Ghazinyan, Second Vice-President of GRETA, and Ms Tatiana Catana, member of GRETA, who were accompanied by Ms Petya Nestorova, Executive Secretary of the Convention.
Following the visit, GRETA will prepare a draft report, which will be sent to the national authorities for comments. GRETA will subsequently adopt a final report which will be published in the course of 2025.
