The next Parliamentarians Against Human Trafficking seminar will be held in the Seimas (Lithuanian Parliament) in Vilnius, on Friday 19 April 2013.  This meeting will provide a forum for parliamentarians, NGOs and leading anti-trafficking experts to discuss the development of a pan-European mapping and data gathering system on human trafficking, leading on from previous discussions on the topic in the Portuguese Parliament in September 2012.

Participants will further explore the possibility of the introduction of a “Portuguese model” of mapping and the possible extension of the Portuguese pilot project on this topic. Discussion at the seminar will examine the benefits and obstacles surrounding this model.

A large part of the seminar will be devoted to planning and preparatory work for the PAHT final conference which will be held in Bucharest in June 2013. The meeting follows on from previous parliamentary events in London, The Hague, Rome, Warsaw, Helsinki, Lisbon, Madrid and Stockholm.

We are expecting over 30 participants, including parliamentarians, NGO representatives, international organisation representatives (the Nordic Council of Ministers), delegates from the Ministry of Interior, Police Commissioner General, Prosecution Service of the Republic of Lithuania, social service providers and academia. Participants have been invited from Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Ireland, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK, amongst others.

There will also be a welcoming reception for participants on the evening of Thursday 18 April 2013 hosted by Mr. David Hunt, HM Ambassador to the Republic of Lithuania.

The next – and final – project event after the Vilnius seminar will be the final conference in Bucharest, in June 2013.