The action “Preventing and combating trafficking in human beings in Bosnia and Herzegovina” held its fourth Steering Committee meeting with the participation of the State Anti-trafficking Co-ordinator, Samir Rizvo, representatives of the Council of Europe, the European Union Delegation in Sarajevo, the line ministries, the Labour Inspectorates and bodies in charge with professional education of judges and prosecutors, as well as civil society organisations.

Samir Rizvo informed the committee on recent developments in the country and emphasised that “through the implementation of jointly agreed activities with the action on preventing and combating human trafficking in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), we have responded to most of the GRETA’s recommendations, and we expect these results to encourage positive feedback through the upcoming monitoring report on BiH”. Rizvo stressed several issues deserving further attention such as the need to continue building the capacities of the local anti-trafficking co-ordination teams, the need to better consider gender specificities as well as protection of victim’s privacy in anti-trafficking policies and actions.

The participants were informed about the results achieved since the last meeting in October 2020 and the activities planned for 2021. They were given a short presentation of the 10th annual report of the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) and the newly prepared Guidelines for the protection of the identity, private life, and personal data of victims of trafficking in human beings.

Merima Tanović and Gordana Milović, representatives of the Federation BiH and Republika Srpska (RS) Labour Inspectorates, stressed that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 70 professionals, 21 out of these are labour inspectors, have been educated by the action to recognise and refer victims of human trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation. Further number of labour inspectors will benefit from training in 2021.

Tomislav Čavić and Almir Tabaković, on behalf of the Centers for Education of Judges and Prosecutors respectively of RS and the FBiH, reiterated their support to the continuation of capacity building activities for legal professionals through specialised Human Rights Education (HELP) courses. The action will consider providing training also to law enforcement officers from the BiH Border Police to enable them to recognise and investigate cases of human trafficking among migrants arriving in the country.

Lejla Hrustanović Isović, representative of the European Union Delegation in BiH, praised the good co-operation and synergy between the action and other projects in the field, which reinforces the efficiency and sustainability of the efforts invested by international actors. Representatives of civil society organisations IFS-EMMAUS and Nova Generacija expressed great appreciation for the established partnership between the action and the non-governmental sector.

The action on „Preventing and combating trafficking in human beings in Bosnia and Herzegovina“ is part of the joint European Union/Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”.