“Prevention of Illegal Migration and Trafficking”

Duration:  October 2003- December 2007

Donor Organizations:  Caritas Italy and Embassy of Italy in Armenia.

The overall goal of the program is to prevent trafficking by raising public awareness and educating people on the topic of illegal migration and human trafficking.

The objectives are:

·        To research and update educational materials related to the process of illegal migration, the exploitation and trafficking of human beings,

·        To train teachers from 100 schools to become trainers on the topics of illegal migration and trafficking using a special training module developed by Armenian Caritas,

·        To organize special sessions for students in ninth and tenth grades, as well as parent councils, on the topics of migration and trafficking to be conducted by the trained teachers.

·        To develop, publish, and distribute handouts, leaflets and posters on the topics of illegal migration and human trafficking to the teachers, students, and parents.

The first phase of the program targeted the 9^th and 10^th grade students from 100 schools; 70 schools in Yerevan City, 15 in the Shirak and 15 in the Gegharkunik regions.

Some of the achievements of the first phase are:

·        The training module for the Training of Trainers (TOT) was developed by AC and was authorized by the Ministry of Education.

·        During the term of the project, 100 teachers from the same number of schools participated in the ToT organized by Armenian Caritas.

·        Approximately 30,000 pupils from 1,500 classes of Yerevan, Shirak and Gegharkounik schools attended the lectures organized by Armenian Caritas with the help of the trained teachers.

·        The 12,000 booklets and 330 posters on the topics of trafficking and migration were published and distributed by the teachers to 100 schools.

·        A best poster competition with anti-trafficking themes was organized among the pupils of a 100 schools.   

·        Armenian Caritas joined the anti-trafficking networks of the National Coalition against violence of Women, the anti-trafficking thematic group chaired by UNDP in Armenia, and the COATNET (Christian Organizations against Trafficking Network), which is the project of Caritas Europa.

·        The project was implemented in close collaboration with the Ministry of Education of Armenia and the three Regional Departments of Education in Yerevan, Shirak and Gegharkunik.

The second phase of the program began in January 2006 and its aim is to increase the number of schools and the number of beneficiaries.

AC plans to finalize the work with the 100 teachers, now that all of the training material has been transferred to them, Armenian Caritas will start the selection process for 50 new schools in Yerevan and Vanadzor (Lori Region). Thus, a new region will join the project.

The training module will be updated and the ToT will be held for 50 teachers from the same number of schools for a period of 24 months.