In order to develop a joint mechanism for providing assistance to people who have suffered from trafficking in human beings, on April 2, 2019, in Kyiv, the Ministry of Social Policy in cooperation with the IOM Mission in Ukraine - the UN Migration Agency met with representatives of the Council of the Baltic Sea States on combating trafficking in human beings.

The Council of the Baltic Sea States was established in 1992 by 11 members: states of the Baltic Sea region (Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia, Finland, Germany, Sweden) and the European Commission.

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss and exchange information on the system of providing assistance to people who have suffered from trafficking in human beings, to establish effective cooperation among the countries, to develop an international mechanism for cooperation in this direction, etc.

Representatives of such countries as Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Finland and Sweden took part in the meeting in Kyiv.

Representatives from the Ministry of Social Policy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Police, the State Service of Ukraine for Labor, the State Migration Service, the Kyiv City State Administration, the All-Ukrainian Coalition of NGOs in the field of combating trafficking in human beings, the IOM Mission in Ukraine - the UN Migration Agency took part in the working meeting from the Government of Ukraine.

Welcoming speeches were made by Deputy Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine Natalia Fedorovych, Senior Adviser and Head of Unit at the Council of the Baltic Sea States on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings of the Council of the Baltic Sea States Vineta Polatside, and specialist for policy issues and anti-trafficking program of the IOM Mission in Ukraine Olha Streltsova.

Natalia Fedorovych told the participants on the main trends in the field of counteraction to trafficking in human beings, in particular evaluation on the international level of intensifying of the work of the Government of Ukraine in the field of combating trafficking in human beings, the detecting and identifying of victims of trafficking in human beings, etc.

The meeting was structured in an open dialogue format, during which representatives of different countries were able to discuss cases of trafficking in persons, methods of providing assistance, repatriation of these persons to the countries of origin, etc.

Representatives of the Council of the Baltic Sea States talked about the current mechanism of interaction among actors involved in countering trafficking in human beings, detecting victims, including Ukrainian citizens, and conducting a complex of assistance measures.