Youth recommend ways governments should tackle trafficking
As part of a Cross Border Youth Summit on trafficking, the 19 youth participated in three days of training about the issue and subsequently presented their recommendations to the Deputy Head of the department of Trafficking and Illegal Migration at the Special Operations department in Tbilisi, Georgia. The summit was initiated and financed by World Vision’s Armenian Tackling Human Trafficking through Social Engagement and Community Guardianship project.
Youth also recommended amendments to laws regarding trafficking, education of school students and greater cooperation with different NGOs that are working on trafficking prevention in order to tackle the sexual exploitation of women and girls, forced labour in construction industry (men) and forced begging.
...it was a good first step for us in encouraging child participation as well as hopefully empowering some young children to stand up and present their ideas on things that affect them Following the collapse of the Soviet Union opportunities opened for millions of people to exercise the greatest freedom of movement. Over the past decade, the region has seen an unprecedented relocation and emigration of persons often in the form of economic migration spurred on by unemployment, growing poverty, economic instability, and geopolitical conflicts that motivated people to leave their homes in search of greater stability.
An estimated 800,000 people have left Armenia and about 1,300,000 have left Georgia since that time. While migration is not a direct indicator of trafficking in persons, the growing economic constraints on families—combined with increasingly open borders—have contributed to an increase in the traffick of human beings in the south Caucasus.
Special Operations Department representative, Akaki Chabrava, confessed that in the Ministry of Internal affairs specialists often have to work for months in order to elaborate on the types of suggestions made by the youth during their ten-minute presentations.
“I could not imagine that they [youth] would be so well informed and well prepared… this type of event is very useful and effective,” said Chaganava, who asked the forum organisers to send the recommendations to him with the promise that his department would work on them.
Forum participants aged 12 to 16 were chosen among entrants to an essay competition about trafficking. “I have received a lot of information about trafficking and want to share it with people I know,” said forum participant Keti Ghavtaze (15), who took the opportunity to share her knowledge with others before the summit was over.
Like other youth, Keti plans to formally share her learning in school and World Vision will support youth in ten schools to inform students about trafficking.
“This was a good example of how two [World Vision] national offices cooperate with one another with regional support. I think it was a good first step for us in encouraging child participation as well as hopefully empowering some young children to stand up and present their ideas on things that affect them,” said Matthew R. Stephens, World Vision’s Regional Anti Trafficking Coordinator.
World Vision has trained 30 social workers and office staff on human trafficking and established a trafficking hotline (100 229) that the Georgian government has since taken over. World Vision also produced a social work curriculum for an undergraduate level class on human trafficking and social assistance and the project ‘Better Chances for Georgian Youth’ (BCGY) has conducted information campaigns on trafficking and safe migration in universities, schools and youth centres. A 130-page manual about trafficking was published and provided to Kutaisi University library for student reference and a special study/training tools were produced for the faculty of journalism in universities.
Youth also recommended amendments to laws regarding trafficking, education of school students and greater cooperation with different NGOs that are working on trafficking prevention in order to tackle the sexual exploitation of women and girls, forced labour in construction industry (men) and forced begging.
...it was a good first step for us in encouraging child participation as well as hopefully empowering some young children to stand up and present their ideas on things that affect them Following the collapse of the Soviet Union opportunities opened for millions of people to exercise the greatest freedom of movement. Over the past decade, the region has seen an unprecedented relocation and emigration of persons often in the form of economic migration spurred on by unemployment, growing poverty, economic instability, and geopolitical conflicts that motivated people to leave their homes in search of greater stability.
An estimated 800,000 people have left Armenia and about 1,300,000 have left Georgia since that time. While migration is not a direct indicator of trafficking in persons, the growing economic constraints on families—combined with increasingly open borders—have contributed to an increase in the traffick of human beings in the south Caucasus.
Special Operations Department representative, Akaki Chabrava, confessed that in the Ministry of Internal affairs specialists often have to work for months in order to elaborate on the types of suggestions made by the youth during their ten-minute presentations.
“I could not imagine that they [youth] would be so well informed and well prepared… this type of event is very useful and effective,” said Chaganava, who asked the forum organisers to send the recommendations to him with the promise that his department would work on them.
Forum participants aged 12 to 16 were chosen among entrants to an essay competition about trafficking. “I have received a lot of information about trafficking and want to share it with people I know,” said forum participant Keti Ghavtaze (15), who took the opportunity to share her knowledge with others before the summit was over.
Like other youth, Keti plans to formally share her learning in school and World Vision will support youth in ten schools to inform students about trafficking.
“This was a good example of how two [World Vision] national offices cooperate with one another with regional support. I think it was a good first step for us in encouraging child participation as well as hopefully empowering some young children to stand up and present their ideas on things that affect them,” said Matthew R. Stephens, World Vision’s Regional Anti Trafficking Coordinator.
World Vision has trained 30 social workers and office staff on human trafficking and established a trafficking hotline (100 229) that the Georgian government has since taken over. World Vision also produced a social work curriculum for an undergraduate level class on human trafficking and social assistance and the project ‘Better Chances for Georgian Youth’ (BCGY) has conducted information campaigns on trafficking and safe migration in universities, schools and youth centres. A 130-page manual about trafficking was published and provided to Kutaisi University library for student reference and a special study/training tools were produced for the faculty of journalism in universities.
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