OSCE supports meeting of working group on social standards for victims of cruel treatment in Kazakhstan

The OSCE Programme Office in Astana supported the first meeting of the interdepartmental working group established with the aim to develop standards of social services for victims of human trafficking that took place in Astana on 19 March 2015.

Some 20 members of the group representing the Ministries of the Interior, Health Care and Social Development, Education and Science, international and non-governmental organizations from across the country will discuss the draft standards of special social services to victims of cruel treatment in line with current national legislation.

In particular, they will discuss the development of the flexible framework that would enable government institutions and non-governmental organizations to effectively provide the victims with necessary assistance, including medical, psychological, economic and legal services.

The members of the groups will also take into account the findings of Kazakhstan’s delegation who recently visited Belgrade, Serbia, with the support of the OSCE Programme Office in Astana, to learn the Serbian experience of establishing an effective framework for identifying victims of human trafficking and ensuring they receive the appropriate protection and support.

The meeting is part of the Office’s multiyear efforts to assist the host country and civil society in combating and preventing trafficking in human beings and in providing social services to victims of cruel treatment.