Over 20 representatives of consular offices of the Republic of Moldova, as well as staff members of the Department of Consular Affairs from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration (MFA EI) of the Republic of Moldova attended from 4 to 7 September 2006, an intensive training programme on migration management. They became familiarised with the role and functions played by the consular offices, particularly by the consuls, in the processes of labour migration management. At the same time, the consuls learnt new practices in implementing activities related to the creation and strengthening of links between Moldovan Diaspora and communities abroad and the Republic of Moldova. Other subjects included in the training programme were related to labour migration marketing, measures of protection of migrant workers and Diaspora - homeland partnerships for development.

The sessions were moderated by international experts from the International Organization for Migration, the Center for International Migration and Integration in Israel, the International Labour Organization, as well as representatives of governmental institutions - the Ministry of Economy and Trade and the Bureau for Inter-Ethnic Relations.

The training sessions culminated in a roundtable on September 8, which focused on the Standardization of Repatriation Procedures for the Victims of Trafficking. According to IOM Programme Coordinator, Ilan Cohn, the purpose of this event was to share the operational experience of consular officials in the field of identifying and repatriating victims of human trafficking. The recommendations and the comments of the participants in the roundtable were included in Draft Regulations regarding the procedure of repatriating victims of trafficking, which are expected to be endorsed by the Government of Moldova later in the year.

This one-week event brought together the consular officials of the Republic of Moldova stationed in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Russian Federation, France, Greece, Israel, Portugal, Romania, USA, Sweden, Hungary, as well as representatives of the Consular Department in Chisinau. This event is part of the "Capacity Building Project Targeting the Staff of the Consular Department of the Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration", financed by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and implemented by IOM Moldova.