Training Workshops Expand Awareness of Trafficking in Persons

Twenty nine participants from six eastern aimags gathered in Baruun-Urt, November 4-5, to participate in a training of trainers workshop organized by Peace Corps Volunteers and made possible with financial and technical support from The Asia Foundation and the American Embassy in Ulaanbaatar.  The workshop improved awareness of Mongolian social workers, teachers, police officers and middle school directors regarding trafficking in persons, the spread of HIV/AIDS and the importance of life skills for Mongolian youth.

After participating in the training of trainers workshop, the participants prepared and delivered trafficking in persons and HIV prevention lessons to two hundred students from the Technological University of Baruun-Urt.  Participants will now return to their respective communities to replicate the training locally.

Peace Corps Volunteer Craig Castagna, an English Education Volunteer working in Baruun-Urt, initiated the program.  The workshop was developed with support from three additional Peace Corps Volunteers and Mongolian contacts working to combat trafficking in persons. 

There are currently one hundred and three Peace Corps Volunteers working in seventeen of Mongolia’s aimags (provinces) to provide grassroots development assistance and to promote cultural exchange between Americans and Mongolians.  The Peace Corps serves at the invitation of the Mongolian government and is celebrating its 15^th year of service to the Mongolian people.