On 7 – 9 October, within the project BAN III – The Balkans ACT (Against Crime of Trafficking) Now!, ASTRA organized a workshop for national experts of the five partner organizations with the aim of exchanging information about the ongoing process of developing five country-specific Monitoring tools. The Monitoring tools, once adopted, are envisaged as national instruments used by the state institutions and other relevant actors for monitoring of anti-trafficking policies, quality of services provided to victims, as well as comparing regional data and setting the ground for establishment of the future National Rapporteur’s offices.
During the first day of the workshop, experts from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, together with the internationally reknowned anti-trafficking expert Mike Dottridge, exchanged their experience so far with the process of adjusting the indicators to specific national needs and discussed data collection against these indicators. Over the course of the second and the third day of the workshop, participants discussed the process of analyzing collected data and potential challenges, production of national pilot monitoring reports as well as the organization of a Regional working conference where five national monitoring tool reports will be presented. An overall agreement among the participants and one of the key conclusions reached was the importance of continuous collaboration with relevant state institutions, at all stages of the development of the Monitoring tool. Only a monitoring instrument designed through a participatory process, and adjusted to the national context of each of the five partner countries, has the potential of being institutionalized, thereby ensuring effective monitoring of level of protection of trafficking victims’ rights.
The project „Balkans ACT Now!“ is implemented by ASTRA in cooperation with partner organizations by ASTRA in cooperation with partner organizations: International Solidarity Forum EMMAUS – Bosnia and Herzegovina; Women’s Rights Center – Montenegro; Center for Legal Civic Initiatives (CLCI) – Albania; Open Gate La Strada – Macedonia; Netherlands Helsinki Committee – the Netherlands with support of the European Union. From January 2018, ASTRA implements the third phase of the project, more about the achievements of the previous phases of the project you can find here.