Arbanasi, March 26-28, 2018
From March 26 to 28 in the village of Arbanasi, Veliko Turnovo region, took place the annual Volunteer Academy organized by the National Commission for Combattling Trafficking in Human Beings together with the Hanns Seidel Foundation and the Local Commission for Combattling Trafficking in Human Beings – Veliko Turnovo. This year special focus in the academy agenda is given to the prevention of trafficking for labor exploitation. The training brought together 52 young volunteers that work with the Local Commissions in Burgas, Blagoevgrad, Varna, Veliko Turnovo, Montana, Pazardjik, Pleven, Plovdiv and Sliven – some have not received training yet, some have been trained and themselves have implemented peer-to-peer trainings, and some are youngsters from vulnerable communities who were part of the focus groups formed during the labor trafficking prevention campaign.
The event was opened by H.E. Emma Hopkins, Ambassador of the UK and by Kameliya Dimitrova, Secretary of the NCCTHB. The training was entrusted to the teams of BFPA and Loveguide, who created the opportunity for the young people who support the prevention activities of the Local Commissions in an innovative way, to acquire knowledge about volunteering, trafficking of human beings in its different forms by developing their skills about teamwork and peer to peer training. The accent was also on communication skills, interactive training techniques, creation and implementation of prevention and informational campaigns and working with media. During the last day of the Academy the young people, divided into six teams, presented their own concepts for informational materials and campaigns which afterwards will be used in activities for prevention of trafficking at local and national level. A six member jury, comprised of members of each team, gave marks from 1 to 10 and decided the final winner – the joint team of young volunteers from Varna and Pleven. In the end everyone received their deserved certificates for the successful training completion.
You can find out more about the problems, related to the “trafficking of human beings” phenomenon on NCCTHB’s page: www.antitraffic.government.bg
