Sharon Gesthuizen, a member of the Dutch Parliament and the Socialist Party, met with the representatives of NGO Atina during the SCI visit to Serbia. The meeting was held in a positive atmosphere and resulted in a fruitful discussion about the refugee crisis, as well as the situation in Netherlands regarding national policies and integration.

Today, on the occasion of the World Day against Trafficking in Persons, US Ambassador to Serbia, Kyle Scott, and Minister Zoran Djordjevic visited the social enterprise of Citizens’ Association Atina, Bagel Bejgl shop, whose profits are financing recovery programs this organization runs for the victims of human trafficking.

US Ambassador Scott has underlined that human trafficking is a global phenomenon, and that there is no country in the world that is not faced with the issue of modern slavery.

Local news - Friday, July 28, 2017 - 11:04

This year, Local network for combating human trafficking in the City of Vranje marks July 30, World Day against Trafficking in Persons, with an action that will include migrants as the most vulnerable category in these transactions.

Local network for combating human trafficking in Vranje will mark the World Day against Trafficking in Persons by distributing leaflets and promotional material on Monday, July 31, 2017, in the period from 11 AM to 1 PM.

The international seminar “Trafficking in human beings for the purpose of labor exploitation” was held in Belgrade, on June 21, 2017, organized through the joint program of European Union and the Council of Europe, within the program “Horizontal Facility”, and the project “Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings in Serbia”, and Citizens’ Association Atina was one of the participants.

Local network for the prevention and suppression of human trafficking from Vranje is actively involved in the activities of the project “Let’s Build Together”. In the middle of July, a meeting was held in this city with the members of the Network and representatives of the Vranje City Assembly who have, once again, expressed their readiness to become actively engaged in the work of this Network.

The Network of Organizations for Children of Serbia and the Women against Violence Network have sent Recommendations for improving systemic measures in the field of prevention and protection against domestic violence to the Ministry of Labor, Employment, Social and Veteran Affairs, Ministry of Justice, and Ministry of the Interior. The immediate cause for the creation of these recommendations have been cases in which, during the month of July, two women and one child were murdered in Centers for Social Work.

Atina and Bagel Bejgl gained new allies in the fight for an equal society, Alona Fisher-Kamm, Ambassador of the State of Israel to the Republic of Serbia, and Rina Bar-Tal, President of the Israel Women's Network.

They visited Atina and Bagel Bejgl shop on Friday, June 30, 2017. The meeting was held in a pleasant atmosphere, with the exchange and understanding of the position of women, and things that must be done to achieve gender equality, but also to provide equal opportunities for all the women in society.

Sub-regional consultative event on the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration in the Western Balkans was organized during the month of June in Sarajevo, by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The event was an opportunity to strengthen dialogue and consultative process in this sub-region, with the aim of facilitating the identification of messages which countries could present at the Thematic sessions within GCM, prior to the meeting for assessing the achievements ending with December 2016.

The Sixth Western Balkans Civil Society Forum was held on July 10 and 11 in Sarajevo, under the auspices of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). This gathering represents a continuation of dialogue between various civil society organizations, as well as previously started discussions on various issues societies in the Western Balkans are facing.

At the panel “Assisting and protecting Human Trafficking Survivors in the context of armed conflict, refugees and mixed migration flows: lessons learned on the ground” where the representative of Atina, Marijana Savic, took part, speakers were also Nadia Murad, UNODC Goodwill Ambassador for Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking. Speakers were as well Yury Fedotov, UNODC Chief, and Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Representative of the Board of Trustees, UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.