OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine supports economic empowerment of Ukrainian orphans

IVANO FRANKIVSK, Ukraine, 2 September 2009 - A series of training sessions to help social and employment service providers support orphaned young adults entering the job market, organized by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine (PCU), started in the city of Ivano-Frankivsk today.

The events, aimed at promoting life and job skills for Ukrainian orphans graduating from vocational training schools, will be held in different regions of the country as part of a PCU project aimed at economically empowering Ukrainian orphans and other young persons vulnerable to trafficking in human beings.

"I strongly believe that the successful implementation of this project will help Ukrainian children from underprivileged backgrounds to feel more confident when starting their adult lives and reduce the risk of their falling victim to traffickers," said Lubomir Kopaj, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine.

Training sessions will be conducted by the OSCE PCU in the Luhansk, Zaporizhya and Kharkiv regions, as well as in Kyiv.

Funded by the Governments of Andorra, Liechtenstein, Poland and the United States, the project is implemented by the OSCE PCU together with the Ukrainian Ministry for Family, Youth and Sports.