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In February 2009 Guidelines for the Collection of Data on Trafficking in Human Beings, including comparable indicators were presented in Vienna, Austria at a Ministerial Conference arranged by the project partners; the Federal Ministry of the Interior of Austria and the IOM in Vienna. The project was financially supported by the European Commission, Directorate-General Justice, Freedom and Security.
As no standardised guidelines for data collection on human trafficking exist, but the need for reliable data on trafficking in human beings has been pointed out in several documents on the EU level, the project intended to support the EU to define common EU guidelines and to provide Member States of the EU with a minimum set of data and comparable indicators to measure human trafficking.
A multidisciplinary Expert Team consisting of representatives from EU Member States, law enforcement agencies, research institutes, civil society and international organisations were asked to contribute to the elaboration of these guidelines. The Guidelines are to be seen as a set of recommendations that lead Member States through the necessary steps for implementing a coordinated data collection and monitoring system at the national level. They provide concrete strategies to help Member States identify counter-trafficking stakeholders, encourage and regulate their cooperation and exchange information through formalised channels. Most importantly they encourage states to create a national focal point which would accumulate and analyse information on human trafficking and provide this data to a European Coordination Mechanism.
As a first step towards potential closer harmonisation in this field the TF-THB has agreed to hire a consultant to conduct a desk study to assess the current data collection and indicators used in trafficking cases in the CBSS Region. This assessment will be used as a base line study for potential future activities in this field if a need for improvements will be found.
This activity will be developed in detail during the Lithuanian Presidency and a detailed project description will follow in October 2009.
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