World Vision builds relationship with peacekeepers to combat trafficking
“A large part of the training was how PSOs could coordinate with NGOs, governments, and local service providers to prevent trafficking in the area they serve,” Stephens said. “We want armed forces to know who to turn to for assistance when victims of trafficking are identified, and also how to work with NGOs like World Vision to prevent trafficking.”
Stephens emphasized that though the event in and of itself was significant for World Vision and NATO, it was also important for what it meant for the future. As he observed, these officers are deployed to missions in areas that either have problems with human trafficking or have the potential to become problem areas. These missions include Kosovo, Bosnia, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Afghanistan. This realization for both sectors could build the first steps toward a more developed, holistic approach to fighting human trafficking.
The event also netted a third unintended result, according to Stephens.
“World Vision had the opportunity to dispel the myth within the military that NGOs are evil,” Stephens said, “and showed that NGOs can be the eyes and ears on the ground that can be a good source of information. Hopefully, NATO missions would then not see the NGO sector as corrupt, and instead could refer information to NGOs, much like the UN does.”
We want armed forces to know who to turn to for assistance when victims of trafficking are identified, and also how to work with NGOs like World Vision to prevent trafficking However, this clarification worked both ways and Stephens saw this opportunity as a way for World Vision to understand how PSOs worked so that NGOs can be better informed on how to create “innovative and comprehensive programming” with these NATO missions, such as providing orientation on trafficking in turbulent contexts to newly arrived peacemakers.
In fact, while speaking with various officials and officers, Stephens discovered that many noted they do not have access to good training materials on anti-trafficking to demonstrate to soldiers that such a thing is part of their task order, their list of duties.
“The people I spoke with really felt a need for such materials. In fact, it was their number one concern,” Stephens said. “Many said they need more training materials on how trafficking applies to their work and what fighting trafficking looks like in the PSO context, because in most cases if it’s not spelled out in a soldier’s task order, then it’s not seen as part of their mission.”
Developing a quality curriculum is the obvious next step said participants on the course. They agreed that offices need to try and secure funding so that NGO experts, such as World Vision, can develop these materials and then work in tandem with the military to train its soldiers on anti-trafficking.
World Vision has been invited to future trainings of this kind.
The Austrian Federal Ministry of Defence hosted the five-day event at its Centre for Operations Preparation in Götzendorf, Austria. Only two civilians were present at the training – Stephens and a representative from the Austrian federal organised crime division – the remaining attendees were NATO military officers from Austria, Sweden, and Finland. A host of local and international agencies, organisations, and ministries facilitated the event, including the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT), International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), European Police Office (EUROPOL), and the Austrian Ministry of the Interior, among others.
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Stephens emphasized that though the event in and of itself was significant for World Vision and NATO, it was also important for what it meant for the future. As he observed, these officers are deployed to missions in areas that either have problems with human trafficking or have the potential to become problem areas. These missions include Kosovo, Bosnia, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Afghanistan. This realization for both sectors could build the first steps toward a more developed, holistic approach to fighting human trafficking.
The event also netted a third unintended result, according to Stephens.
“World Vision had the opportunity to dispel the myth within the military that NGOs are evil,” Stephens said, “and showed that NGOs can be the eyes and ears on the ground that can be a good source of information. Hopefully, NATO missions would then not see the NGO sector as corrupt, and instead could refer information to NGOs, much like the UN does.”
We want armed forces to know who to turn to for assistance when victims of trafficking are identified, and also how to work with NGOs like World Vision to prevent trafficking However, this clarification worked both ways and Stephens saw this opportunity as a way for World Vision to understand how PSOs worked so that NGOs can be better informed on how to create “innovative and comprehensive programming” with these NATO missions, such as providing orientation on trafficking in turbulent contexts to newly arrived peacemakers.
In fact, while speaking with various officials and officers, Stephens discovered that many noted they do not have access to good training materials on anti-trafficking to demonstrate to soldiers that such a thing is part of their task order, their list of duties.
“The people I spoke with really felt a need for such materials. In fact, it was their number one concern,” Stephens said. “Many said they need more training materials on how trafficking applies to their work and what fighting trafficking looks like in the PSO context, because in most cases if it’s not spelled out in a soldier’s task order, then it’s not seen as part of their mission.”
Developing a quality curriculum is the obvious next step said participants on the course. They agreed that offices need to try and secure funding so that NGO experts, such as World Vision, can develop these materials and then work in tandem with the military to train its soldiers on anti-trafficking.
World Vision has been invited to future trainings of this kind.
The Austrian Federal Ministry of Defence hosted the five-day event at its Centre for Operations Preparation in Götzendorf, Austria. Only two civilians were present at the training – Stephens and a representative from the Austrian federal organised crime division – the remaining attendees were NATO military officers from Austria, Sweden, and Finland. A host of local and international agencies, organisations, and ministries facilitated the event, including the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT), International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), European Police Office (EUROPOL), and the Austrian Ministry of the Interior, among others.
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