Workshop on “Enhancing a Victim-Centered Approach: Identification, Assistance and Protection of Trafficking Victims in the Asia-Pacific Region”

31 March -03 April 2020 (CIFAL Jeju, Republic of Korea)

Background

The 2018 UNODC report on Trafficking in Persons (TiP) has clearly shown an upward trend in the number of victims and criminal activities over the last ten years although findings vary from region to region and across the types of human trafficking. The report indicates that there has been a close linkage between the anti-trafficking efforts and the increase in victim identification and conviction of traffickers. In the same context, the 2018 US TiP Report shows a very similar trend in prosecutions, convictions, and victim identification since the TiP Report first began to observe an increase in the number of victims detected and human traffickers convicted. This means the attempts to identify the human trafficking victims and convict the trafficking criminals have been effectively made over the last decade. However, when it comes to counter trafficking efforts in practice, persistent gaps in governments’ understanding of the issue, as well as misconceptions about human trafficking and inconsistencies in the implementation of domestic legislation, pose critical challenges in its global progress (TiP report, 2019).

The 2019 US TiP report indicates that the total number of victims of human trafficking reached at 85,613 in 2018, and, out of this number, 11,003 victims were subjected to forced labour. At that, it should be noted that, given the clandestine nature of the crime, these figures would be largely conservative estimates. Another critical finding in the 2018 UNODC report is that, while human trafficking is truly a global phenomenon, it most commonly occurs intra-regionally, with each region and sub-region experiencing unique and geographically-characterized patterns for origin and destination. It is extremely alarming to find that shares of detected victims in the Asia-Pacific region account for 97% in the category of area of origin and of detection within the same subregion including domestic victims (Global report on TiP 2018). 

Despite the anti-trafficking efforts made at global, regional, and national levels, human trafficking is happening on a wide range of dimensions and varies by region. This makes it more challenging for the concerned authorities to identify the victims and to convict the perpetrators. Since the way authorities understand human trafficking has a strong impact on how national and local governments combat the crime, it is very important that they have a better and more precise understanding of how to identify human trafficking incidents for the effective victim protection, prosecution of cases and prevention of the crime.

In this context, CIFAL Jeju organizes a workshopin partnership with RSO of the Bali Process on “Enhancing a Victim-Centered Approach: Identification, Assistance and Protection of Trafficking Victims in the Asia-Pacific Region” between 31 March and 03 April 2020. The workshop aims at promoting the application of the Victim-Centered Approach (VCA) to identify and protect the victims of human trafficking  in the Asia-Pacific region. This year’s program will be conducted as an advanced training course, in particular, inviting senior officials and professional experts in this field. The knowledge, expertise, and experiences from the experts of international organisations such as IOM, UNODC, and UN ACT will be shared during the workshop.

CIFAL Jeju, in affiliation with UNITAR, is a knowledge hub and platform for promoting city-to-city cooperation. Through this approach, CIFAL Jeju directs the capacity building efforts towards local actors. This workshop theme is related to SDG Target 5.2, 8.7, and 16.2, which call for the enhanced global response to human trafficking and concerted efforts to eradicate the crime. Countries in the Asia-Pacific region can substantially improve the situation by learning and sharing experiences on the prevention of trafficking, prosecution of traffickers and the protection of victims of trafficking.

Event objectives

The capacity building training workshop will:

·           Provide a platform for good practices in identifying, assisting, and protecting victims of trafficking;

·           Help understand the Victim-Centered Approach and its applications in various scenarios;

·           Discuss how various anti-trafficking legal instruments, strategies, policies and frameworks can be adapted for implementation;

·           Highlight improvement of the inter-agency/multi-stakeholders coordination process; and

·           Share counter trafficking information campaign and how such campaign can reach out vulnerable communities across the region

Learning objectives

By the end of the training, participants will be able to:

·        Understand the basic concepts related to trafficking in persons and the difference between human trafficking and human smuggling, forced labour and other related exploitation;

·        Comprehend the current dynamics or trend of human trafficking across the global and in the Asia-Pacific region.

·        Have better understanding about the role of regional consultative processes in combating human trafficking.

·        Identify best practices and lessons learned to address human trafficking, as well as share policymeasures that can be undertaken to enhance human security at different levels;

·        Apply UNITAR-developed CityShare methodology to rate and compare each other’s anti- trafficking policies, and make specific action plans for local implementation and follow-up on lessons learned (via city-to-city cooperation, awareness raising activities, inter-governmental coordination, and other practical implementation examples)

Content and structure

The workshop contents are composed of the following:

·      Module 1. Understanding the Concepts of a Victim-Centered Approach

·      Module 2. International Legal Frameworks

·      Module 3. Anti-Human Trafficking Mechanism: 3Ps & Awareness Raising

·      Module 4. Regional and International Cooperation

·      Module 5. Engaging in Action Plan

Methodology

The training will be comprised of:

·        lectures and presentations by experts

·        practical exercises and group discussion

·        UNITAR CityShare Methodology

·        action plan presentation

·        study visit

Target audience

This training is open to senior or mid level government officials and representatives at senior levels from NGOs, Civil Societies and institutions of the selected countries who directly work in the field of human trafficking in the Asia Pacific region, in particular, with more than five years of working experience.

Event detail

Requirements

Selected applicants are required to:

·          submit necessary documents on time, i.e., registration form etc.

·          complete and submit pre-training readings and assignments, i.e. case studies etc.

·          actively participate in the training program

·          be fluent in written and spoken English

*Additionally, Participants are required to bring a personal laptop for exercise on UNITAR CityShare Methodology.

Application and deadline

Send the following 7 documents to cifaljeju.jitc.1@gmail.com by  14 February  2020 (Friday)    

※  Late application will NOT be accepted.

Note

·          Application without required documents will NOTbe processed.

·          Participation is subject to approval of the application by UNITAR CIFAL Jeju/JITC.

·          Only Selected applicants will be notified individually.

Assistance with travel expenses

·          UNITAR CIFAL Jeju/JITC provides a LIMITED financial assistance with the airfare to Jeju-do, Republic of Korea from their capitals/points of departure as mentioned below.

·          Local expenses (venue-to-venue transportation, accommodation, and meals) during the workshop will be covered by UNITAR CIFAL Jeju/JITC.