role and function of National anti-trafficking co-ordinators and national interagency coordination in the CIS countries. Event participants discussed the challenges in the prevention and prosecution of human trafficking and the protection of and assistance to victims of such crime. On 25 April, following the OSCE/ODIHR “Core Group Strategy Meeting for Legal Practitioners” held from 3-4 April in Warsaw, the Office met with the Azerbaijan Migration Centre and the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) to discuss the initiative of establishing an anti-trafficking legal practitioners’ network in Azerbaijan. During the meeting, parties agreed to co-operate on the matter and concluded with the initial workplan, which included the call for lawyers and advocates working on human trafficking and forced labour cases to join the network, and the holding of a future round table event and follow-up activities to build the capacities of the selected legal practitioners. From 4-8 June, the Office’s Politico-Military and Democratization Units organized a weeklong programme for journalists on how to investigate and report on cases of human trafficking and forced labour. Some 15 representatives of both print and broadcast media outlets participated in the programme, which included in-depth information on domestic and international instruments defining and combating human trafficking and forced labour, as well as new trends and forms of exploitation. On 19 June, the Office and the ABA ROLI conducted a round table with the aim of facilitating the establishment of a network of lawyers committed to defend the rights of victims of THB. 15 legal practitioners from civil society organizations, the Institution of the Ombudsman, members of the Azerbaijani Collegium of Advocates selected by the ABA ROLI, and of the NGO Azerbaijan Migration Centre discussed major challenges related to the legal protection of trafficked victims, and elaborated on a strategic outlook for the operation of the network. Participants also discussed issues pertaining to the goal, membership and sustainability of the network, as well as the next steps for the network's operation. From 21-22 June, the Office and the UNHCR organized training for multi-disciplinary law enforcement agencies operating at Baku Airport. The participants included officers of the State Migration Service, State Border Service, the Ministry of National Security, Aviation Security and the State Customs Committee. Speakers from the Office, the TNTD/SPMU, the IOM, UNHCR, and the NGO Azerbaijan Migration Center (AMC) delivered presentations on mixed migration flows, human trafficking for sexual and labour exploitation, and the nonrefoulement principles of asylum. Participants reviewed case studies presented by the AMC to apply the theoretical knowledge into practice to protect and refer presumed and potential victims of trafficking. On 25 June, the Office, jointly with the OSR/CTHB and the UNHCR, organized a workshop on “Identification, Protection and Referral of Trafficked Persons and Asylum Seekers” for law enforcement agencies from the Lankaran, Masalli, Salyan and Jalilabad regions of Azerbaijan. 20 participants from the police, prosecutor offices, and border and migration agencies discussed the various forms of exploitation, as well as international and national instruments to identify and protect vulnerable groups among migrants and asylum seekers. The workshop was a follow-up initiative to a similar training conducted in 2011. On 9 August, the Office and the ABA ROLI met with lawyers from Ganja city. The meeting aimed to connect the regional lawyers to the Lawyers Network committed to defending the rights of victims of THB, which had been established by the Office and the ABA ROLI in June 2012. From 24-26 September, the OSR/CTHB visited Azerbaijan to discuss Azerbaijan’s efforts to counter human trafficking and forced labour. During the visit, the SR/CTHB held meetings with the National Co-ordinator for Counter-Trafficking as well as high-level officials of the 114

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