June 6, 2017
The training, which consisted of 10 workshops with 171 civil servants trained on migration and health and 143 on trafficking in persons, was held in the cities of Antofagasta and Santiago between 17 April and 30 May. The training is part of the support that IOM has been providing to the Chilean Ministry of Health to enhance migrants’ rights to health by training health workers and creating awareness-building policies in relation to migration.
Victims of trafficking
The participants work for the health and municipal services in Arica, Iquique, Antofagasta and the Metropolitan area of Santiago. The content of the counter-trafficking session was based on a manual developed by IOM and the Centre Against Violence Against Women at the London School for Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). The objective of the session was to build the capacity of the health officials and to develop protocols to address the needs of victims of trafficking in health centres.
Maria Elena Santos, a participant from the Municipal Services in Arica region, said: “I understood that migrants have human rights and need to be treated with dignity and humanity. It’s much clearer to me now and I will do my best in my work to keep fighting against abuses of migrants.”
Source: Press release IOM, 6 June 2017