IOM and the Saudi Human Rights Commission have continued this week their training program for frontline workers, for the identification and referral of Victims Of Trafficking (VOT) and for assuring progression in protection assistance.
The program started in January 2020 with the will of the Government of Saudi Arabia to increase responses to VOT, aims at improving the capabilities of more than 400 key workers in the fields of labor inspection, hotlines, shelters, labor committees, civil society organizations, and labor courts.
IOM Chief of Mission for Bahrain, Mohamed El Zarkani stated “This training, and the knowledge and skills developed through them, constitute the cornerstone of counter-trafficking response. When frontline workers are equipped and confident to identify people subject to or at risk of trafficking, the key structures and responses in place to support them can be activated. The Government has recognized the significant importance of capacitating its staff, and civil society, in the fight against trafficking in persons”.
The training is just one of the actions being made by the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking (NCCHT), which is chaired by Awwad Alawwad, the President of the Human Rights Commission.
With the partnership with IOM and the UNODC, the NCCHT is making key anti-trafficking reforms and advancing in expertise in the areas of prevention, protection, and prosecution, to ensure that potential victims of trafficking are recognized and assisted, while those responsible for the crimes are apprehended and prosecuted.
