The Advisory Group to the Joint Project on “Supporting Malta in the design and implementation of a new National Anti-Trafficking Strategy” held its first meeting online on 30 January 2023 with the participation of its members from DG-REFORM, the Ministry for Home Affairs, Security, Reform and Equality (MHSR) of Malta and its Human Rights’ Directorate and Human Rights’ Initiatives Unit.

They adopted the project’s inception report which provides an analysis of possible priority issues and formulates preliminary recommendations for the purpose of the future Strategy.  These will guide the first activities of the project which will include a series of assessments to be launched in February 2023 in close consultations with national stakeholders.

The project will focus in particular on strengthening the identification of all victims, including children, protecting them better as soon as potentially identified and guaranteeing their access to justice. With regards to the preparation of the new National Anti-Trafficking Strategy and Action Plan, the Advisory Group and future Working Groups of the Project will contribute to improving inter-agency coordination by providing assistance to the Maltese Anti-Trafficking Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) with their findings and recommendations. The Project will also collaborate with the newly established Human Trafficking Monitoring Group to ensure that the Strategy responds to the political priorities of the anti-trafficking reform.

This activity was carried out in the framework of the Project “Supporting Malta in the design and implementation of a new anti-trafficking strategy”, which aims to contribute to the ongoing policy reform for combating trafficking in human beings in Malta. The project is co-funded by the European Union via the Technical Support Instrument, and implemented by the Council of Europe, in cooperation with the European Commission.