Moldovan authorities aim to increase efforts to combat trafficking in human beings

Chisinau, 17 July /MOLDPRES/ – The members of the National Committee for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, representatives of central public authorities and civil society, as well as diplomatic missions gathered on 16 July, at a meeting to assess the state of things on fight against the trafficking phenomenon, the government’s communication and protocol department has reported.

The discussion framework focused on findings and recommendations for Moldova set out in US State Department Report on Situation of Human Trafficking, 2018 issue, published on 28 June 2018. The representatives of the US Embassy in Chisinau appreciated Moldova's advancement in ranking, with national authorities being encouraged to step up efforts on it. Also, there were presented results of the activity in the first half of 2018, including the Report recommendations.

The participants assessed the prospects of advancing combating and preventing trafficking in human beings in the investigation, assistance and protection of victims of trafficking.

Similarly, it was discussed the topic of appointing experts to fill the position of a member of the Expert Group on the fight against trafficking in human beings (GRETA) at the meeting.  On 31 December 2018, there expire seven mandates of current 15 members of GRETA. Therefore, 43 countries party to the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, including Moldova, were invited to nominate candidates for elections to be held in Strasbourg on 09 November 2018.

The members of the Committee reconfirmed their commitments in preventing and combating trafficking in human beings, as well as intensifying efforts to implement national policies and recommendations of international evaluators in the second half of 2018.