Increasing refugee flow focus of OSCE Anti-Trafficking and Gender Technical Co-ordination Meeting

On 21 April, the OSCE Mission to Moldova held an Anti-Trafficking and Gender Technical Co-ordination Meeting to discuss the impacts of the increasing refugee flow and the risks of trafficking in human beings.

During the meeting, participants discussed how the current humanitarian crisis creates greater risks of gender-based violence, in particular, trafficking in human beings and sexual abuse. Women and girls comprise a vast majority of refugees and are at risk in the current context.

The meeting was attended by 47 participants, including representatives from Moldovan state agencies, civil society organizations from both banks of the Dniester/Nistru River and international partners, including the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Margareta Cederfelt, the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Valiant Richey, and the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Gender, Liliana Palihovici.

“Due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there are serious humanitarian needs of Ukrainian refugees to be met in Moldova, as well as a pressing need to co-ordinate efforts to combat the serious crime of human trafficking. To bolster Moldova’s efforts, it is important that the country receives appropriate support, and that effective co-operation is established among international actors, including between the OSCE and its Parliamentary Assembly,” noted Ms. Cederfelt, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

“We need to prevent the current humanitarian crisis from turning into a human trafficking crisis. Establishing strong prevention measures and addressing vulnerabilities and needs of people seeking refuge, including access to sustainable employment, should be the priority right now,” emphasized Valiant Richey, OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, who presented to the group his Office’s recommendations on the need to enhance anti-trafficking prevention amid mass migration flows.

“The Mission firmly promotes initiatives to address the root causes of gender-based violence. This is needed now more than ever, and the Mission is enhancing its efforts in this regard,” said the Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova Dr. Claus Neukirch.

In recent years, the Mission, through its Human Rights Programme, organized a number of meetings aimed at building synergies between relevant stakeholders from both banks of the Dniester/Nistru River as part of its confidence-building efforts in the framework of the Transdniestrian Settlement Process. This initiative was organized in co-operation with the Moldovan Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, and the State Chancellery.