Nordic-Baltic Network of Policewomen

NBNP activities during the Danish Presidency 2008-2011

The Mobility Programme

Efforts in the Fight against Trafficking in Human Beings

In July 2007 the Nordic Council of Ministers and the city of St. Petersburg signed an agreement on co-operation - Protocol of Intent - which comprises co-operation within the social areas and the areas of gender equality in an effort to fight trafficking in human beings.

The Nordic and Baltic Ministers for Gender Equality decided at their meeting on May 27, 2008 (Kuressaare, Estonia), that it is important to continua the Nordic-Baltic co-operation in order to fight trafficking in human beings for sexual exploitation. The ministers set the Nordic Council of Ministers the task to work out a strategy for fighting trafficking in human beings for sexual exploitation, together with the Nordic and Baltic countries, and that the co-operation will end in concrete results.

In April 2008, a Nordic-Baltic-Russian conference was held in St. Petersburg (Russian Federation) under the title "Joining Nordic-Russian-Baltic Efforts to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings". The conference discussed the subject of how to co-ordinate the effort in order to fight human trafficking in North-Wets Russia and the Nordic and Baltic countries.

Background information

Since 2001, the Nordic Council of Ministers has taken an active part in the fight against trafficking in human beings. The work has been carried out within the framework of the Nordic co-operation and the c-operation with the Baltic countries and has even included North-West Russia.

International organizations and the countries in Europe focus on the fight against trafficking in human beings. Today trafficking exists in one form or another in all countries in Europe and various international organisations work actively in order to combat trafficking. Russia is one of the most afflicted countries; it is prilimarily a country of destination, but also a country of origin and exit in relation to trafficking. The Nordic countries are first and foremost transit and destination countries, whereas the Baltic countries today are countries of origin as well as exit and destination. As a result, there is a great need of join practical efforts, above all on authority level, and not least to influence the attitudes towards human trafficking.

At their annual meetings the Ministers for Gender Equality have focused on different efforts in the fight against human trafficking. The ministers have pointed out the need of a more effective and co-ordinated effort in the Northern Dimension Region of the EU. The Ministers for Gender Equality have even taken the initiative to call the international organizations and task forces to annual meetings, in order to discuss how to achieve the best results through a more efficient and co-ordinated effort in the fight against human trafficking.

This year, the social ministers have held a round table conference, in which the Nordic countries and the remaining countries in the Baltic Region participated. The object of the conference was to strengthen the social efforts in order to counteract human trafficking. A tangible result of the conference is a co-operation agreement, concerning the start of a joint project intended to prevent young girls and boys in institutions to become victims of human trafficking.

In the Nordic Council of Ministers the efforts for fighting trafficking are co-ordinated by the Citizens' & Consumer Rights Committee and the Welfare Committee. A central priority of the Citizens' & Consumer Rights Committee and the Welfare Committee is to create synergy and connection between the mobility programme and the fields of work that the Nordic Council of Ministers has chosen to prioritize.

Content

The overall object for implementing the mobility programme, as a part of the effort for counteracting human-trafficking, is to present Nordic institutional and professional models and best practices to the police in North-West Russia, who get into contact with the problems of human trafficking in their daily work. The object of the mobility programme is also to offer Nordic groups the opportunity to go on a field trip to North-West Russia. The central point in implementing this mobility programme should be the acquiring of knowledge and the promotion of cross-sectoral networks. The participants in the mobility programme and police officers from North-West Russia and the Nordic and Baltic countries. The persons participating shall make themselves acquainted with different subject fields that form a part of the fight against trafficking.

Within this focus area the groups that visit the Nordic countries and North-west Russia will take part in the efforts of the police, the prosecution service, and the social and health sector. They will also participate in the work within the voluntary Nordic organizations that fight against trafficking. In the Nordic countries the cross-sectoral co-operation among the different authorities will be presented, just as the NGO's work with victims of trafficking will be presented. In North-West Russia the participants will be acquainted with the work of the authorities that are involved in the fight against human trafficking.

The mobility programme will be a supplement to and strengthen the ongoing activities in the fight against trafficking and the co-operation with the Nordic, Baltic and Russian authorities. The mobility programme will also be co-ordinated with the Nordic Council of Ministers' other activities, projects and efforts whose objects are counteract trafficking, and also with the activities of other international organizations and task forces.

Target Groups

Police officers, who work with the fight against human trafficking or get into contact with victims or trafficking through their work, are given the opportunity to participate in the mobility programme. The following target groups will also be invited to participate in this programme:

- Representatives of the police, the prosecution service and the courts,
- Public servants/police officers working with frontier control and customs.

The goup participating in the mobility programme will consist of 10-15 people. The groups from Nort-West Russia will visit the Nordic countries and a Nordic-Baltic group.

The Implementation of the Mobility Programme

Nordic-Baltic Network of Policewomen (NBNP) and the offices in St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad will be co-ordinating the implementations of the mobility programme in order to counteract human trafficking. The object is to involve other areas in North-West Russia such as Murmansk and Archangelsk.

NBNP was established in 2001 and at this moment Denmark has the spokesmanship in the Network. Hanne Bergtrom from the Danish national Police is the spokeswoman for the Network and will be leading the implementation of the mobility programme together with the Danish national Centre of Investigation, which ordinarily has the international contacts in relation to combacting human trafficking.

In all, four groups of 10-15 people will be participating in this programme, which will be implemented in 2009 and 2010. The programme will be implemented as a one-week journey to a Nordic country and a one-week journey to North and West Russia.

Together with local authorities, the offices of the Nordic Council in St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad will be selecting the public servants and experts who will participate in the mobility programme and the NBNP.

The offices of the Nordic Council of Ministers will co-operate with the NBNP, who will arrange a programme and be responsible for all practicalities in the country that is being visited. The NBNP will also function as a contact to the organisations and authorities that will be visited. NBNP will, moreover, make use of Baltic police officers as experts/interpreters/support persons in order to implement the mobility programme.

Prior to the visit to the Nordic countries, a seminar will be held for the participants, in order to present the programme and give some practical information. After the visit, the group will reassemble for a meeting and sum up the experiences that they have made. Furthermore, the participants are expected to hand in a report about their experiences and impressions from the visit.

NBNP and the offices of the Nordic Council of Ministers will be playing a central role in the preparation, implementation and evaluation of the programme.

THB Seminar (I part)

The Mobility Programme Seminar (I part)

The event took place from 13 September 2009 to 18 September 2009, where 18 participants from the Nordic countries, Baltic countries and NW-Russia were invited to Copenhagen for a two-day seminar organized by the National Centre of Investigation, and a two-day seminar organized by the Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau.

The target group for the seminar was male and female officers, who are working in the field of human trafficking in their daily work.

The working language was English.

THB Seminar (II part)

The Mobility Programme Seminar (II part)

The event took place on the 25th-29th Januray 2010, where 18 participants from the Nordic - Baltic countries and NW-Russia were participating in the Mobility Programme seminar (II part) organised by in Norwegian and Latvian police.

The target group for the seminar was male and female officers, who are working in the field of human trafficking in their daily work.

THB Final Conference (III part)

The Mobility Programme Final Conference
"Combating trafficking in human beings: the cooperation and law enforcement practices and awareness workshops for law enforcement officers"

Time:                   24 – 25 March 2010
Place:                  Tavrichesky Palace (St. Petersburg, Shpalernaya st. 47)
Organisers:          Nordic-Baltic Network of Policewomen (NBNP)
                           Inter-parliamentary Assembly of CIS countries (IACIS)
                           St. Petersburg Government
                           Nordic Council of Ministers, Information office in St. Petersburg (NCM)

The conference was held in cooperation with Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Government of St. Petersburg, and Consulate General of Denmark in St. Petersburg.

The aim of the conference was to focus on trans-national organized crime associated with trafficking, illegal migration, sexual exploitation, exploitation regarding to labour, and other similar acts.

The conference brought together representatives of law enforcement agencies of Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and the Commonwealth of Independent States, representatives of the Nordic Council of Ministers and other international organizations, legislative and executive bodies of St. Petersburg and North-Western Federal District, experts in the field of combating trafficking in human beings.

Nordic Council of Ministers' Information Office in St. Petersburg
http://www.norden.ru/News.aspx?id=400&lang=en

Conference on the Role of Women in Global Security

On 29-30 October 2010 the Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Danish Minister for Development Cooperation, in cooperation with the American Embassy, hosted the high-level conference "Role of Women in Global Security" to sharpen the focus on women as critically important agents in not only prevention and resolution of conflicts but in post-conflict reconciliation and reintegretion.