10 December 2014 - The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) join forces once again to conduct the third Regional Workshop on Anti-Trafficking in Persons (TIP) from December 11 to 15 in Osaka, Japan.
Around 55 Assistance-to-Nationals (ATN) officers and staff from the 28 Philippine Foreign Service Posts (FSPs) in the Asia-Pacific region will receive legal, psychological and practical training that will enable them to properly identify situations of trafficking, render appropriate assistance with due regard to the victims’ rights, safety and special needs, effectively advocate anti-TIP measures in their respective regions and host countries and assist in the prosecution of traffickers.
“As the world community marks the International Day against Human Trafficking on December 12, the DFA brings this Workshop to the Asia-Pacific region where, historically, we registered the second highest incidence of trafficking of Filipinos. We believe that providing continuous training to our Foreign Service personnel is a significant step towards enhanced protection of our nationals," Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. del Rosario said in his keynote speech to be delivered by DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Jesus I. Yabes.
“With this workshop, I am confident that we will be able to make great strides in confronting and combating this scourge. Your efforts overseas is necessary to complement the dedication of our partner-agencies in the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking in Persons in order to ensure that this modern-day slavery will find no refuge anywhere in the world," the Secretary added.
In 2013, the FSPs assisted a total of 2,947 Filipino TIP and illegal recruitment victims worldwide. Of this number, 298 were assisted by FSPs in Asia and the Pacific.
The speakers’ roster is composed of experts from the IOM, DFA-Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs, DFA-Office of Personnel and Administrative Services, DFA-Office of Consular Affairs, DFA’s partner-agencies in the Philippine Inter-Agency Council against Trafficking (IACAT) such as the Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and other relevant international and local organizations.
The third Regional Workshop follows the success of the training programs for FSPs in the Middle East and Africa, held in Turkey last April in cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and IOM, and for the FSPs in the Americas, held in partnership with UNODC last September in Mexico. The next Regional Workshop will be organized for FSPs in Europe. END