Baltic Sea Region Prevention, Protection and Assistance to Children Victims of Trafficking Stockholm, 8 th of April 2010 Head of Children’s Unit Lars Lööf Council of the Baltic Sea States Secretariat (CBSS) “Unaccompanied and Trafficked Children in the Baltic Sea Region” A programme implemented by the Expert Group for Cooperation on Children at Risk (EGCC)

CBSS 11 member states + EU Commission Russian Federation Estonia Latvia Lithuania Presidency Poland Germany Denmark Presidency Iceland Norway Sweden Finland Belarus Ukraine

Expert Group for Cooperation on Children at Risk - EGCC The members of the EGCC are senior officials from the ministries responsible for children’s issues in the 11 member states. Activities are coordinated by the Children’s Unit, a small office within the international Secretariat of the Council of the Baltic Sea States

Expert Group for Cooperation on Children at Risk - EGCC Priorities: 1. Sexual exploitation in all its forms a. Unaccompanied and trafficked children b. Children selling sex c. Children exploited by travelling sex offenders (Sex tourism) 2. Child sexual abuse 3. The Rights of Children in institutions

Child trafficking - Lessons learned  Governments need to take on the national responsibility – NAP’s  Governments must also recognise the need for regional and international cooperation  Necessary to recognise that child trafficking is different from trafficking in adults  Trafficking in children takes on many forms  Domestic trafficking is not sufficiently recognised  Exploitation is at the core of trafficking  Trafficking must become recognised as a form of violence against children happening in the local community – a ”glocal” problem

National Contact Points, NCP 1. Operational in all member countries except Russia and Germany 2. Placed within ministries 3. Names and contact details published on the website 4. Annual meeting of the National Contact Points 5. Discussions at the meetings assist the EGCC in designing appropriate programmes addressing the most pressing demands “Unaccompanied and Trafficked Children in the Baltic Sea Region” A programme implemented by the Expert Group for Cooperation on Children at Risk (EGCC)

BSR CACVT a 2-year training programme  50 experts from 10 countries trained  6 two day seminars on protection, care, psychological support, family support, child participation and reintegration

Understanding trafficking of children in the region

Some of the remaining challenges  Information: Collected locally, Disseminated nationally, Compared and collated regionally, Used globally  Identification of what impedes national information collection is essential  Sustaining the networks of trained experts nationally and regionally  Continuing and supporting established contacts between protective, caring, rehabilitation and reintegration contexts

Three major barriers for action 1.“ It doesn ’ t exist ” 2.“ Very few children in (from) our country ” 3.“ They don ’ t want any assistance anyway – they are prostitutes ”

Accountability  States  International donors  International organisations  NGOs We need to discuss accountability ”In what way does this project contribute to a sustainable child protection system”

Baltic Sea Region Information Management to Prevent Trafficking – BSR IMPT  The project aims to  Identify information bearers on children in migration where there is a risk or suspicion of exploitation  Suggest ways in which the information can be collated  Disseminate practices on how local information is used on the national level

Baltic Sea Region Information Management to Prevent Trafficking – BSR IMPT  Three expert seminars  Children in prostitution and other forms of sexual abuse and exploitation  Children in the asylum system  Children in labour, begging or street work

Baltic Sea Region Prevention, Protection and Assistance to Children Victims of Trafficking Stockholm, 8 th of April 2010 Head of Children’s Unit Lars Lööf Council of the Baltic Sea States Secretariat (CBSS) “Unaccompanied and Trafficked Children in the Baltic Sea Region” A programme implemented by the Expert Group for Cooperation on Children at Risk (EGCC)