Meeting of the International Survivors of Trafficking Advisory Council (ISTAC)

The first in-person meeting of the newly appointed ODIHR International Survivors of Trafficking Advisory Council (ISTAC) will take place from 30 June to 2 July in Warsaw. The discussion will focus on an upcoming policy brief on ethical survivor inclusion by the Inter-Agency Coordination Group Against Trafficking in Persons (ICAT) and ODIHR guidance on national survivors of trafficking advisory councils.

Consisting of 21 trafficking survivor leaders from across the OSCE region, the 2^nd cohort of ISTAC will assist ODIHR’s work in combatting human trafficking until 2025.

Background

ODIHR, active in preventing and combating the trafficking in human beings in the OSCE region since 1999, has developed expertise in victim protection and the promotion of rights of trafficked persons and at-risk groups, focusing on the promotion of international human rights standards and gender sensitive measures in response to trafficking. ODIHR’s approach recognizes that trafficked persons are holders of rights and ensures that responses to human trafficking protect these rights, as reflected in ODIHR tools available below. To promote inclusion of survivors’ of THBTHB
Trafficking in human beings lived experience and expertise across the OSCE region, ODIHR launched ISTAC in 2021. ODIHR addresses trafficking in human beings through an approach that is based on human rights, rule of law, equality and non-discrimination, and is survivor-centred.