Secretariat - Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities

One underlying cause for the growth in trafficking in human beings in transition economies has been the lack of employment opportunities and dissatisfaction with local labour and wage conditions, especially for women. Therefore, promises of lucrative jobs abroad become attractive. However, such offers are often traps set by traffickers and other criminal groups.

Most vulnerable to trafficking are young persons coming from difficult social and economic backgrounds with dysfunctional family relationships, often lacking a supportive social network. One of the groups most at risk are graduates from state orphanages unaccustomed to mainstream life and often lacking the skills and experience to assess risks and manage responsibilities.

Project aim

Conceived as a pilot, the project targets orphan graduates from economically marginalized regions in Ukraine and those most affected by trafficking in human beings.

The project strives to:

• create empowerment opportunities for orphan graduates through vocational and life skills training, internships and on- the-job training;
• strengthen the institutional capacity of public and local non-governmental institutions to work with private industry to develop economic empowerment opportunities for vulnerable population groups;
• enhance understanding of the role the private sector can play in cultivating the skills demanded by the labour market, while increasing corporate social responsibility.

The project is part of the OSCE/OCEEA Anti-Trafficking Programme on Public-Private Co-operation in the Prevention of Trafficking in Human Beings (ATP) (EF.GAL/16/04), and is implemented jointly with the OSCE Project Coordinator in Ukraine.