Chernihiv youth are being taught how to avoid falling into the trap of human trafficking

Active teenagers from Chernihiv region learned how to avoid falling into modern slavery by going to work and how to teach their peers about it as part of the “School of Activist for Safe Migration and Legal Employment”.

The training was held on February 13-15, 2019 at the Educational House of Human Rights in Chernihiv and was organized by the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights for students of vocational schools, technical schools, colleges and lyceums of Chernihiv.

The main component of the course was devoted to the basics of coaching. Pupils and students learned to be persuasive, conduct group exercises and organize educational interactives to help their peers better absorb the material. During the classes, future young trainers mastered the methodology of coaching, mastered the causes and consequences of the problem of human trafficking, in a playful way refuted common myths about employment abroad, learned to prepare their own information events, which they will then present to their peers. Each graduate of the program, having received the appropriate certificate, must organize several trainings using various methods (presentations, games, collages, quests, theater forum) in their educational institution.

“This is not the first time in Chernihiv. Such a School was held in 2015. The idea is to initiate a dialogue between teenagers about safe employment and prevent them from falling into a situation of human trafficking, so that they can conduct mini-trainings for each other, – explains Natalya Kulikova, the head of programs of the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights. – We hope that after graduating from the Activist School, they will be able to present the material to their peers in an unconventional and interesting way.

Chernihiv region ranks among the first in terms of the number of labor migrants in Ukraine, and according to human rights activists, more and more people are at risk of becoming victims of labor or sexual exploitation. Residents of agrarian and the least economically developed regions of the region with high unemployment rates, particularly among young people, are especially at risk. Therefore, the practical goal of developing a youth network of volunteers is to monitor their campaigns and initiatives, promote preventive, preventive and advocacy ideas in the youth environment.

The Young Activist School is organized by the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights with the support of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Office in Ukraine, with funding from the Ministry of International Affairs of Canada and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway.