Over 40 representatives of national and international NGOs, Churches and local authorities dedicated to combating human trafficking came together to find common approaches to identifying the most effective trafficking prevention campaigns, the most efficient and coherent legislation and the best counselling and reintegration strategies for the victims of trafficking in the Romanian capital Bucharest recently.

The participants focused on creating an international network of people working in preventing and limiting the effects of trafficking.


'We must all work together, get involved and sensitize the communities. We need policies and programs that begin with education and information. This is a plague that affects us all and the Church can not just sit aside and watch. The Church as an institution is committed to supporting the efforts necessary in fighting this terrible phenomenon', pointed out His Beatitude Daniel, the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, present at one of the meetings.

'Trafficking in persons and human trafficking are euphemism for modern-day slavery. According to the U.S. intelligence community, approximately 800, 000 people are trafficked across international borders each year. About 80 percent are female, and up to half are minors. These figures do not include millions who are trafficked into labor and sexual slavery within national borders explained Ms. Eleanor Kennelly Gaetan, Senior Coordinator for Trafficking in Persons, US State Department

Starting with February 2008, World Vision Romania, through its office in Iasi County, North-Eastern Romania, started a new pilot project dedicated to preventing human trafficking in a rural community where WVR has been working. Due to the migration phenomenon intensifying especially in Romania's poorest rural areas, the danger of being exposed to trafficking has increased significantly.


'There are many people interested in working abroad, especially young people who are 'charmed' into believing unverified success stories presented by friends or relatives who have already left the country in search of a better life. Our work in this community right now consists of organizing monthly informational sessions for over 180 children and vocational courses for another 60 young people in the community, in order to help them access better jobs, here in Romania', said WVR project coordinator.

According to the Romanian National Agency Against Trafficking in Human Beings statistics, since January 2007, 936 Romanian citizens were identified as victims of human trafficking in Europe, for the following reasons (some of the victims were trafficked for various reasons): The distribution of victims according to the type of exploitation: 406 – sexual exploitation, 425 – labor exploitation, 171 – on the street, 253 – construction, 145 – agriculture, etc.