Chisinau, 30 July – World Day Against Trafficking in Persons is marked annually on 30 July and this year's slogan is "Leave No Child Behind in the Fight Against Human Trafficking”, underscoring the importance of inclusive and focused efforts to protect children, enhancing resilience, and strengthening protection of children in the context of trafficking in persons.

With the aim to increase public knowledge and understanding of the situation of victims of trafficking in human beings and to promote the protection of their rights, the International Organization for Migration is supporting the Moldovan Government in implementing an awareness raising campaign against Trafficking in Persons, thanks to the financial contribution of the U.S. Government and Norway.

From July 29 to August 6 a series of activities have been organized across Moldova to raise awareness about the risks of trafficking and exploitation, especially of children, as they are globally one of third of victims of human trafficking, according to UNODC’s Global Trafficking in Persons Report (From Evidence to Action: Twenty years of IOM child trafficking data to inform policy and programming).

During 2023, the Government of Moldova identified 169 victims of trafficking in persons, among them 144 adults (16 women and 128 men) and 25 children (19 girls and 6 boys). During the same period, IOM assisted 107 victims of trafficking, among them 98 adults (74 men and 24 women) and 9 children (1 boy and 8 girls).

Both IOM and the Government's data show that the most predominant form of exploitation among children, victims of trafficking, is sexual exploitation, girls being more vulnerable to this type of exploitation compared to boys (100 percent of the victims assisted by IOM were girls).

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For more information on the campaign: IOM Moldova’s Communications and Unit, dlkivmoldovacommunications@iom.int  
For more information on Human Trafficking in Moldova, Diana Donoaga, Program Coordinator Protection, ddonoaga@iom.int