The fifth meeting of the Steering Committee of the EU/CoE HFII action “Preventing and combating trafficking in human beings in Serbia” took place on 8 December 2021 in a hybrid form in Belgrade. It gathered representatives of National Anti-trafficking Coordination Office, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs (Centre for Human Trafficking Victims’ Protection and Labour Inspectorate), Ministry of Education, Science and Technological development, Ministry of Health, EU Delegation and NGOs Astra and Atina.
Nadia Cuk, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade, opened the meeting and welcomed the adoption of new legislation in Serbia - the Gender Equality Law aiming to offer equal opportunities to men and women (May 2021), and the law on the new responsibilities of the Protector of Citizens (Ombudsperson) to act as the National Rapporteur against Trafficking in Human Beings (November 2021).
Mitar Djuraskovic, co-chair of the Steering Committee and National Anti-trafficking Coordinator informed on recent developments in the country in the area of human trafficking and exploitation, including the state of implementation of the national anti-trafficking Action Plan and the translation of information leaflets on the rights of victims of trafficking in several languages. Mr. Djuraskovic stressed the importance of close cooperation between the public institutions and the non-governmental sector in fighting human trafficking in accordance with the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. He acknowledged the contribution of the capacity building that the action has provided so far for different actors, aiming to increase the number of identified and assisted victims of trafficking.
During the past 7 months, the action directly involved more than 170 participants (labour inspectors, police, social care centres, education advisors, NGOs, law students etc.) in trainings and more than 15 000 children and pupils from 20 cities and 31 villages in Serbia in awareness raising campaigns.
The members of the Steering Committee discussed the achievements of the action in the areas of combating trafficking in children and trafficking for labour exploitation, and improving victims’ protection since Spring 2021. They had an exchange on the activities planned for 2022, in light of the trends and challenges of human trafficking in the country, and identified a need to further strengthen respect for victims’ rights and their access to justice and remedies.
The action on “Preventing and Combating Human Trafficking in Serbia” is part of the joint European Union and Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey II 2019 – 2022”
