On 28-30 June 2011, the International Conference “Best practices in the implementation of National Referral Mechanisms/Systems for Protection and Assistance of Victims of Human Trafficking” was organized by the International Organization for Migration, Mission to Moldova under the auspices and in close partnership with the Ministry of Labour, Social Protection and Family of the Republic of Moldova. The Conference provided a platform for counter-trafficking actors from different countries to share their experience in fighting human trafficking and protecting and assisting victims of the modern day slavery, including through the implementation of National Referral Mechanisms – cooperative frameworks through which states actors fulfil their obligations to protect and promote the human rights of trafficked persons, coordinating their efforts in strategic partnership with civil society.  read more...

The conference gathered over 100 Government and non-government representatives from ten countries, both of origin and destination for trafficking in human beings that presented and discussed the main successes and challenges in establishing cooperation networks between government and civil society as part of development and implementation process of National Referral Mechanisms/Systems for assistance and protection of victims of trafficking, in each respective country. The participants came from Ukraine, Belarus, the Russian Federation, Poland, Czech Republic, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Moldova.

In her welcoming speech, Mrs. Buliga, the Minister of Labour, Social Protection and Family highlighted: “The transnational cooperation is an important aspect of the implementation of the National Referral Mechanism/System and we are glad to have on board so many countries and organizations ready to share with us their valuable experience. This fact proves once again the importance of the issue discussed for all the countries and we hope that thanks to this event we will manage to build and strengthen our partnership in order to achieve our common goal – to reduce the number of victims and potential victims of trafficking”.
  
Among the high-level guests attending the event were Mr. Vadim Misin – the President of the Human Rights and Interethnic Relations Commission of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, Mrs. Valentina Buliga – the Minister of Labour, Social Protection and Family and Mrs. Georgette Bruchez – the Director resident of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC, as well as other representatives of the relevant Ministries and NGOs.

Compared to the first edition of the Conference held in October 2008, which focused on the theoretical foundations of NRMs and the first experiences of the states in implementing the concept, this year’s 2nd edition mainly explored the practical aspects of NRM implementation, by analysing the legal and institutional frameworks of this process, ways of integrating NRMs in national social protection systems and perspectives for international cooperation in the field. Among the conclusions of the event was the belief that NRM remains a best practice in ensuring the protection and assistance of trafficking victims and that human rights should be at the core of this mechanism. The event also provided an opportunity for the participants to strengthen partnership links between relevant authorities and civil society actors to facilitate transnational cooperation to foster identification, transit assistance, return, rehabilitation and reintegration of victims of trafficking.

The Conference was organized with the financial support from the CIS Anti-Trafficking Programme (CAT) project “Strengthening the National Referral System in Moldova” funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Programme Against Human Trafficking in Eastern and South Eastern Europe, funded by the Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Contact person: Irina Todorova, e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; tel: 23 29 49;