Trafficking in Human Beings In 2013, the Office continued to support the Armenian government and civil society partners in addressing human trafficking by reinforcing co-ordination among national referral mechanism actors and by strengthening capacities of law enforcement institutions. On 14 February, the Office organized a THB event for ten labour inspectors, police officers, and prosecutors, who handle the identification, investigation and prosecution of human trafficking cases, to discuss forced labour/labour trafficking issues. In order to build capacities and broaden awareness, the meeting included a special focus on children’s rights. Participants identified a number of issues that hinder timely disclosure and prosecution of forced labour cases. The key issues identified were the inconsistency in labour legislation and a lack of effective co-operation amongst the actors involved. As a result of this meeting, the Office planned to elaborate a definition for “forced labour” and establish a group of police officers and labour inspectors, who are able to react to forced labour cases that involve children. On 20 March, the Office met with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia to discuss joint efforts in the area of anti-trafficking. As the MFA chaired the Inter-Agency Anti-Trafficking Working Group, the Office sought to raise concerns and to discuss mid-term priorities and future co-operation. The Office and the MFA agreed on the importance of re-establishing regular Working Group meetings on the revision of Armenia’s National Referral Mechanism; and that further work was needed to ensure that authorities properly identify victims of trafficking and labour exploitation. On 23 April and 30 May, the Office, in co-operation with the Armenian Ministry of Defence, conducted sensitization/training courses on human trafficking for 100 peacekeepers. These first of a series of training courses aimed to ensure that Armenian military personnel are able to respond to instances of sexual violence and trafficking in human beings. The courses were part of the Office’s set of multi-dimensional assistance projects to the MoD in 2013. On 26 April, the Office organized a roundtable on the subject of forced labour law for ten law enforcement officials and labour inspectors. Participants discussed the procedures for identifying victims of forced labour pursuant to the European Court of Human Rights’ decisions and other countries’ experience addressing forced labour and slavery. While Armenia’s National Referral Mechanism was quite developed, this aspect of human trafficking required further capacity-building support. On 9 August, the Office organized a training course for the national anti-trafficking actors in the Gegharkunik Region of Armenia. This event sought to strengthen the capacities of antitrafficking actors at the provincial level. 22 persons participated, representing the regional government, police, labour inspectors, local NGOs, and employment services. The training concentrated on changes to Armenia’s National Referral Mechanism for Victims of Trafficking On 24 October and 10 December, the Office conducted training sessions on anti-trafficking legislation issues for 16 participants from the Ministry of Defence. From 12-14 December, the Office organized a seminar for 24 judges, prosecutors and police officers on the specifics of investigating and qualifying human trafficking or human exploitation-related cases. An international expert conducted lectures about the international standards on labour exploitation and national case law; possible implementation of transnational judicial or police co-operation; the identification, assistance and protection of victims; as well as the investigation techniques on human trafficking. 125