NGO Atina is the recipient of With and For Girls Award, as one of the twenty humanitarian organisations from around the world. This award, presented to NGO Atina at a ceremony in London, is a part of global initiative whose mission is to identify and support strong local organisations working with and for girls. During the award ceremony, Muna Wehbe said that Stars Foundation aims to “shine a spotlight on these outstanding local organisations and encourage more funders to support girls in their role as vital agents of change within our sector.”

In this regard, NGO Atina was awarded for its long-term dedication and contribution to improving the position of women and girls, victims of human trafficking and other forms of gender-based violence, through daily provision of safe accommodation, health and psychological care, legal counselling, informal education and economic empowerment. The specificity of NGO Atina’s work is reflected in the fact that it is the founder of a social enterprise Bagel shop, which helps finance the existing reintegration programmes implemented by the organisation. In addition, it provides the opportunity for women and girls to, through a training which this enterprise offers, acquire work habits and skills that can help them find future employment.

In order to improve the response to the needs of women and girls, NGO Atina runs programmes that are developing the capacities of non-governmental organisations and professionals in the community to more effectively identify and protect women and girls who are victims of human trafficking. NGO Atina’s comprehensive programme of reintegration for girls who are victims of human trafficking has become the standard model for providing services for all state institutions in Serbia dealing with this particularly vulnerable group.

On the occasion of receiving the award, Marijana Savic, director of NGO Atina, said that this was the crown of NGO Atina’s 12 years of work, and that it represents a real incentive to improve the status and lives of girls at risk of human trafficking and other forms of gender-based violence.