On 24 June 2020, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Georgia and IOM marked the handover of the Training Manual for Consular Officers on the Combat against Trafficking in Human Beings (THB). This manual highlights the essential information that consular officials stationed overseas should possess to actively perform the role of front-line actors in identifying victims of trafficking and provide assistance to nationals of Georgia.

This training manual, produced with EU funding as part of the project “Sustaining Border Management and Migration Governance in Georgia (SBMMG)”, will be used by the MFA to train the staff of the Consular Department in raising their awareness of the specific role that consular officers have in providing assistance to vulnerable Georgian migrants. This activity is part of the Government’s Action Plan on the Combat of Trafficking in Human Beings for the years 2019-2020.

Thanks to EU support, over the past years IOM has provided tailored assistance to various Georgian ministries to enhance their capacities in undertaking joint counter-trafficking action. Apart from support in the field of THB, IOM’s cooperation with the MFA Georgia has also included the issues of readmission management and IT support in boosting the country’s electronic consular assistance portal www.geoconsul.gov.ge.

More information on the handover ceremony is available here