EU Anti-Trafficking Day 2019 Panel took place in Nicosia

On the occasion of EU Anti-Trafficking Day, a networking panel is held on Friday, 18 October 2019 from 8:45 to 11:00 at the Cyprus Turkish Chamber of Commerce (KTTO) in Nicosia.  The aim of this year’s EU Anti-Trafficking Day event was to bring together local NGOs working in the field to join forces and share experiences in order to define local restrictions and constraints in the combat against human trafficking and find synergies between local initiatives and NGOs.

In 2018 the European Commission as part of the EU Aid Programme for the Turkish Cypriot community,  launched a EUR 1,000,000 call for proposals aiming to prevent and address trafficking in human beings.  The main objectives of the Call for Proposals were to prevent human trafficking and raise awareness; to improve victims' access to rights; and to increase knowledge of and effective and coordinated response to all forms of trafficking in human beings.

During the panel discussion, recent EU grant recipients from the call “Together against trafficking in Human Beings”, Ms. Fezile Osum from Refugee Rights Association’s  “COMMIT - Coordinated Measures and Mechanisms for Anti- Trafficking” Project, Mr. Ahmet Türkdoğan from Cyprus Turkish Bar Association’s  “Legal Changes and Legal Support against Human Trafficking” Project,  Mr. Doğukan Gümüşatam from Queer Cyprus Association's  “ LGBTI+ in Freedom from Exploitation (LifE)” Project and Ms. Mine Atlı from Association of  Women to Support Living “Do not Ignore” Project came together to present their projects that received EU grant from the call “Together against trafficking in Human Beings”. After the presentations, the participants and the speakers discussed the opportunities and challenges in the local context to join efforts with all relevant stakeholders to better combat trafficking in human beings in the Turkish Cypriot community. 

The EU Anti-Trafficking Day was established by the European Commission in 2007 and is marked on 18 October of every year. The main purpose has been to raise awareness on trafficking in human beings and increase the exchange of information, knowledge and best practices amongst the different actors working in this field. EU Anti-trafficking Day serves as an occasion to bolster Europe-wide commitment for ending trafficking in human beings, to raise awareness, exchange know-how, and best practices, and take stock of what has been achieved.  Trafficking in human beings is a grave human rights violation and it is prohibited by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.