On the initiative of the Council of Europe, the sixth regional workshop to support the fight against the trade of human beings and promote the signing and ratification of the related Convention will be held in Nicosia (Cyprus) on 15th and 16th February. Approximate estimates from the UN find that 700 thousand to 2 million women a year are victims of the trade. The figures are even higher if we add other forms of trade, such as the trade of organs and children. The trade of human beings accounts for 32 billion dollars a year. The keywords of the workshop will be "prevention, protection and repression". Delegates and members of NGOs from several European countries will reflect on the methods to be adopted to defeat this new form of slavery. The speakers will include Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, deputy secretary general of the CoE, and Eva Biaudet, from the OECD, in charge of fighting the trade of human beings. So far the Convention on the fight against the trade of human beings has been ratified by Albania, Austria, Moldavia and Romania and signed by another 30 countries.
