The regular session of the working group on RA human trafficking and exploitation issues was held on December 24

The regular session of the working group on RA human trafficking and exploitation issues was held on December 24

December 24th was marked by the regular session of RA Human Trafficking Committee adjacent Working Group on Combating Trafficking, with Vahram Kazhoyan as the head of the session.

The sitting commenced with the speech of UMCOR representative who presented UMCOR’s recent initiative concerning the processes of integration of trafficking victims and provision of support to them. UMCOR worked out mechanisms of these processes based on the guidebook published by Nexus University which covers the subject of indicators of reintegration services and monitoring. UMCOR used those parts of the guidebook which are relevant for Republic of Armenia to be applied later on in compliance with the legislation. The aim of this work is to create an ongoing process of evaluation of the given support to the victims based on the applicable points of the guidebook. The initiative has been realized through cooperation with representatives from RA Government, from Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, non-governmental organizations, etc. The guidebook includes two methods of monitoring: one country based, the other case by case. UMCOR used only the country based mechanisms of evaluation of support provision to the victims. Used is also some general information on monitoring, on indicators, as well as the types of support which are social, economic, legal, medical, psychological, etc. As a response to the presented guidebook in Armenian variant, Ovsanna Babayan from OSCE Armenia, mentioned that the guidebook should be localized, that is, should be applied in accordance with the legislation and with the right terminology. Davit Tumasyan from OSCE Armenia added, that there is the problem of variety of terminology and the terminology of the presented mechanisms should be in compliance with the legislation or else, the misuse of terminology might bring about legal problems. Further, the question of the support types from separate ministries (in the sphere of social, economic, legal, psychological, and medical support) has been discussed as well. Arzuman Harutyunyan from “Audio Visual Reporters’ Association” NGO stressed that to be able to evaluate the effectiveness of integration processes it is important to understand in the first stage the needs of the trafficking victims, then in the other stages monitor what was provided, what still could be provided and then compare in separate stages the given support types and their effectiveness.

The next subject was the adoption of “Identification of and Assistance to the victims of Human Trafficking” RA legislation on which Mr Kazhoyan congratulated the team and thanked also for any contribution that separate members have done in the creation and adoption process of the law. Mr Kazhoyan also mentioned that UMCOR’s presented guidebook can be applied and worked on in detail as soon as the law is in force, that is, after six months of the law’s official publication. He also suggested continuing working on the guidebook by consulting with specialists, until the law will be in full force.

Next, Mr Kazhoyan informed that two new Armenian representatives have been selected to the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. One of them is Austrian, the other Dutch. Both are very specialized and competent for being representatives for Armenia. He also informed that there was one Azeri among the candidates whose candidature dropped still in the first stage. Mr Kazhoyan touched also the subject of two Council of Europe Conventions- Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs and Convention on Preventing and Combatting Violence against Women and Domestic Violence. He stressed the actuality of ratification of those Conventions by Republic of Armenia. As a response, Davit Tumasyan added, that RA already had a law draft on “Prohibition of domestic violence against women”, which is in the process of discussion and scrutiny. Further, he mentioned about the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse which he emphasized as the one to be encouraged to ratify by Republic of Armenia.

At the end, Mr Kazhoyan talked about the events to be organized for Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) 10th anniversary, encouraging the members to think of how the event could be organized in Armenia.

The very last sentences of the meeting were the thankful messages to the US Embassy Agency on Drug prevention and cooperation with law enforcement bodies, to Maritsya Hovhannsiyan as the one coordinating the support strategy aimed at reducing potential trafficking crime in Armenia,  also to RA Police General Department for Combating Organized Crime 3-rd Department’s chief, Police Colonel Tigran Petrosyan who will no longer be in the group due to the change in his work profile. The members thanked Tigran Petrosyan for the great contribution that he had in the working group.

The event photos can be found on Antitrafficking Facebook page with the following link: http://antitrafficking.am/eng/the-regular-session-of-the-working-group-on-ra-human-trafficking-and-exploitation-issues-was-held-on-december-24/

Anahit Arakelyan -“Development of Anti-trafficking information platform in Armenia” project volunteer