In the period October 2015 - March 2019 the National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings implemented the project "Swiss-Bulgarian Cooperation in Identification and Long-term Assistance of Children and Adult Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings".
The project was part of the Bulgarian-Swiss Cooperation Programme aimed at building more effective cooperation between Switzerland and Bulgaria in the fight against trafficking in human beings, funded by the Programme's Thematic Fund "Security". For the implementation of the activities set out in the project, the NCCTHB partnered with the Swiss Federal Police Office (Fedpol), the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) based in Vienna, Austria and the Crisis Centre "Die Drehscheibe", Vienna.
The main objective of the project was to improve Swiss-Bulgarian cooperation in the field of identification of victims of human trafficking and to increase Bulgaria's capacity to assist children and adults victims of trafficking.
As a result of the implementation of the project activities, the following main outcomes were achieved:
- Improved bilateral cooperation between the two countries to counter trafficking in human beings and to identify and refer victims of trafficking through working visits and joint action days between the police services of Bulgaria and Switzerland;
- Doubled capacity to assist victims of trafficking in Bulgaria. Two specialised long-term services for victims of trafficking in human beings were opened in Sofia: a Crisis Centre for Children (the first specialised service for child victims of trafficking in human beings in Bulgaria) and a Shelter for adult victims of trafficking in human beings. For the period of their functioning from September 2017 to December 2018, a total of 17 people, including 7 children, received support in both services;
- Evaluation of the services for long-term reintegration of children and adult victims of trafficking in human beings in Bulgaria;
- Development of 2 policy briefs, providing an overview of the established practices in Bulgaria regarding the reintegration of children and adult victims of trafficking in human beings, as well as specific recommendations for future actions to improve and build on the existing policies in this area;
- Development 2 practical tools (case-monitoring templates) for tracking cases of trafficking in human beings - children and adults in the period of social inclusion (reintegration);
- An inter-institutional coordination team as an innovative model for dealing with complex cases, including representatives from the responsible institutions.