15 March 2015 – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, is set to conduct the fourth Regional Workshop on Anti-Trafficking in Persons (TIP) from March 16 to 20 in Vienna, Austria.

Over 50 participants are expected to join the TIP workshop, including Assistance-to-Nationals (ATN) officers, Heads of Posts and other Foreign Service Officers (FSOs) from the 21 Foreign Service Posts (FSPs) in Europe. The workshop aims to enable the participants to correctly identify different types of trafficking situations and to render appropriate assistance to the victims. Anti-TIP measures and steps to combat trafficking will likewise be shared, focusing on the current situation in different parts of Europe.

“Trafficking in Persons is modern-day slavery. It is an insidious crime that targets the most valuable members of society and robs them of their inherent dignity," Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. del Rosario said in his keynote speech to be delivered via video recording.

"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 2014, the FSPs assisted a total of 420 Filipino TIP and illegal recruitment victims worldwide. Of this number, 31 were assisted by FSPs in Europe.

The roster of speakers is composed of experts from the UNODC, 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). The Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) will likewise be sharing for the first time its expertise.

This is the fourth TIP workshop for FSPs, following the success of the training programs for FSPS in Asia, the Americas, the Middle East and African regions last 2014. A culminating workshop will be organized in Manila for DFA personnel this coming May. END