The joint European Union and Council of Europe action “Preventing and combating human trafficking in North Macedonia” organised a training session for twenty-two representatives of centres for assistance to children without parental care and social centres, with the participation of anti-trafficking stakeholders and civil society organisations (CSOs), with the aim to transfer knowledge and to encourage co-operation among them when working with child victims of trafficking. The participants discussed the most appropriate ways to communicate with traumatised children and to provide them with special care.
“This is a pioneering work you are doing, you have to share your knowledge about safeguarding child trafficking victims and widely inform about your work”, said Daja Wenke, international expert on safeguarding children’s right. She presented good practices of safeguarding and promoting the wellbeing of children in the context of migration and trafficking.
“If the child victim’s needs are met, the child can build confidence and feel more secure, otherwise the child struggles, which negatively affects its state of being and development”, asserted Zorica Serafimovska-Arsovska, psychologist working for SOS Children’s Village. She spoke about trauma and building a trust-based relationship between the child and the care provider, and ways to help the child increase his or her self-confidence and feeling of security.
The participants addressed issues related to reporting procedures in order to safeguard and not retraumatise children. They discussed specificities of child resocialisation and reintegration. The mutual support between care providers was stressed as an important aspect of their work.
The action “Preventing and combating human trafficking in North Macedonia” is part of the programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019 - 2022” of the European Union and the Council of Europe, aiming to assist beneficiaries in South-East Europe to comply with the Council of Europe standards and European Union acquis in the framework of the enlargement process, where relevant.
