KYIV, 16 July 2009 - The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine (PCU) completed a series of regional training courses for local police on combating trafficking in human beings today.

Some 180 chief police inspectors from Chernivtsi, Zhytomyr, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk regions and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea took part in six courses, held under a nationwide OSCE PCU project to assist police to prevent human trafficking, identify and refer trafficked persons, and support prosecution.

The Ukrainian Interior Ministry initiated the courses as part of the State Programme to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings for the Period until 2010, and the OSCE Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings, which was adopted in 2003.

"Through these co-operative efforts the OSCE helps raise the level of trust between the police and the public. This will facilitate better access to information relating to trafficking and should increase the willingness of victims to report offences," said Rene BeBeau, Senior Project Officer for the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine.

An additional 36 training courses for approximately 1,000 rank-and-file police officers will be held in the same six regions of Ukraine. These courses will target the local precinct police inspectors who are on the frontlines of crime prevention and who carry out the initial investigations of crimes committed in their precincts. The training courses aim to help them prevent trafficking, identify cases and refer trafficked persons for further assistance as well as to strengthen their links with specialized anti-trafficking police to prosecute the traffickers.