Yesterday, May 4, the first / kick-off meeting was held on the occasion of the beginning of the new module of the HELP course on combating, which is part of the joint program of the European Union and the Council of Europe “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”. Prevention and fight against human trafficking in Serbia “.
The meeting was attended by course participants – labor inspectors, police, and trade union representatives. Speakers were course organizers (Council of Europe representatives), National Anti-Trafficking Coordinator, Mitar Đurašković, and HELP tutors, Ivana Krstić, professor at Faculty of Law, University of Belgrade, and Marija Andjelković, director of the NGO ASTRA.
The idea of this gathering was to introduce the participants to the new module of the HELP course, the program developed by CoE, and the way of functioning and using the HELP platform on which the module is sated to gain knowledge in the field of human trafficking for labor exploitation.
The module is part of a specialized and interactive HELP course on combating trafficking in human beings. CoE prepared the HELP program (European Program for the Education of Legal Professionals in Human Rights) and then translated into Serbian and adapted it to the national strategic and legal framework. ASTRA has actively participated in adapting the module to the local context and is now continuing to work on implementing the course.
Although the course is intended for law enforcement professionals and legal professionals, the module can also be used separately by labor inspectors, trade unions, and private sector representatives to improve their understanding of labor exploitation issues as a form of trafficking.