Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye (Horizontal Facility III)

Back Trafficking Victims’ Rights Must Come First: North Macedonia Strengthens its Victim-Centred Approach

Irena BABUSHKOVSKA

Modified 4 Days ago.

Trafficking Victims’ Rights Must Come First: North Macedonia Strengthens its Victim-Centred Approach

In force since 2008, the Council of Europe Convention on action against trafficking in human beings requires states to identify and support trafficking victims, protect them from further harm and ensure they are treated with dignity. To support this, a capacity-building activity brought together judges, prosecutors, lawyers, and civil society representatives to enhance their knowledge on protecting the rights of human trafficking victims. Organised by the EU and Council of Europe joint action “Strengthening anti-trafficking action in North Macedonia”, in co-operation with the Academy for Judges and Prosecutors of North Macedonia, the event focused on the European Court of Human Rights' case-law and the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. This activity aimed to equip participants with the necessary expertise and skills to treat trafficking victims in accordance with European anti-trafficking standards.

“The victim is not merely a means of evidence - it is the centre of the entire proceeding. The Convention on action against human trafficking marked a turning point in the treatment of victims of trafficking, shifting the paradigm from the exclusive focus on the criminal justice response to the victim-centred approach”, said Biljana LUBAROVSKA, an independent expert from GRETA.

Participants were also trained on the European Convention of Human Rights and on the European Court case-law in the human trafficking context. They worked on case scenarios and discussed the essential elements for establishing the existence of human trafficking and a violation of Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights, prohibiting slavery and forced labour. Identification of foreign trafficking victims was also a key topic of discussion. Only when victims are identified, they can receive healthcare, food, clothing, psycho-social care and accommodation they are entitled to. Resocialisation and reintegration of trafficking victims were also positive state obligations, stemming from the European Convention on Human Rights.

On the margins of the event, the participants engaged in bilateral meetings, sharing their experience with human trafficking cases, in view of advancing the rights of the trafficking victims and strengthening the criminal justice response.

This activity is organised in the framework of the “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye ”, funded by EU and Council of Europe, and implemented by Council of Europe.

Veles, North Macedonia 26-27 October 2026

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What is the Horizontal Facility?

The joint European Union/Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye” (Horizontal Facility III) is a co-operation initiative and one of the results of the Statement of Intent signed on 1 April 2014 by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe and the European Union Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, in which both Organisations agreed to further strengthen their co-operation in key areas of joint interest.

The programme is ongoing since 2016 and the third phase begun in January 2023 for a period of 48 months. The third phase of the programme (worth €41 million (85% funded by the EU, 15% by the CoE) keeps building on the results of the previous phases and it combines Beneficiary-specific and regional actions.

It enables the Beneficiaries to meet their reform agendas in the fields of human rights, rule of law and democracy and to comply with European standards, which is also a priority for the EU enlargement process.

Themes covered by the Horizontal Facility include:

strengthening justice
fighting corruption, economic crime and money laundering
promoting anti-discrimination and protection of the rights of vulnerable groups (including LGBTI, minorities and Roma) and
promoting and protecting freedom of expression and media

The Expertise Co-ordination Mechanism that provides legislative expertise and policy advice within the Council of Europe system remains also an important part of the programme available to all Beneficiaries.

The Horizontal Facility relies on the Council of Europe’s unique working methods, whereby tailor-made technical co-operation activities are based on conclusions and recommendations of the Council of Europe’s monitoring bodies highlight areas where improvements are needed in legislation and policies of the Beneficiaries to comply with the Organisation’s treaties and other standards.