5 April 2012, Jeju, South Korea – UNITAR’s Centre for Training Local Authorites (CIFAL Jeju) in South Korea completed on Friday March 30, its second workshop in the field of human trafficking, titled “Enhancing Human Security: Developing Capacities to Protect and Assist Victims of Human Trafficking”.

With experts from Ewha Womans University, IOM and UNITAR, the workshop focused on protection and prevention of human trafficking and the role of local authorities in strengthening awareness and counter-trafficking measures in their municipalities, cities and regional governments. 

Part of CIFAL Jeju’s two-pronged training themes on human security and green growth, the workshop concluded with concrete areas for follow-up tied to: strengthening legislative and policy frameworks; securing the financing of anti-trafficking programmes and their sustainability, in addition to better multi-stakeholder participation.

CIFAL Jeju is part of a global network of nine UNITAR training centres for local authorities called the CIFAL Network. Through the CIFAL Network’s trademark CityShare methodology, participants learn from each other and indicate their personal commitment to pursue SMART objectives. UNITAR and its CIFAL in Jeju will build follow-up activities on the basis of this second workshop’s conclusions.

Immediate results of this workshop included:

  • Networking with a purpose: A woman working with a Philippino NGO acquiring answers to the case of a trafficked boy likely to also be a refugee, when she was put in touch during the training with UNHCR and IOM staff who could help.
  • Building a base of collaborators: A mayor of a town in India friended fellow participants on Facebook almost immediately following the meeting, stating during the training, that she felt supported and less isolated in her plight to counter human trafficking in her city.
  • Providing an opportunity to seek emotional strength: An Indonesian participant broke down and was consoled by her peers, as she described the death of a young victim of trafficking who had contracted HIV/AIDS.
  • Articulating needs and developing spin-off trainings: A Pakistani jurist requested CIFAL Jeju to organize trainings on trafficking for paralegals to address the misconceptions and errors in the judiciary process when prosecuting traffickers.
  • Proving global knowledge and inputs: As the UN convened a special panel in the General Assembly on human trafficking weeks after the workshop (on 3 April 2012), participants were given access to information to follow international debates on the topic and to stay connected with trends outside their region.

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