During the month of May, a panel topic was organized by The Global Fund for Children in Dallas, Texas, on the topic “Trusting in the Power of Local: A Working Model for Transforming Lives”.

The topic of the 4^th International ECPD Youth Forum was Culture of Peace, with a special focus on the refugee crisis and the youth. The Forum gathered young professionals from several European countries, who had an opportunity to share their experiences in work with refugees, gain new knowledge, but also forge partnerships and friendships.

“Rethink your policies and decisions: They force refugee women and girls into the criminal underground economy and into smugglers’ hands. The people we see are not economic migrants. Many are simply trying to save their lives. They have no alternatives except to flee. Think about this, and act.” —Jelena Hrnjk, Atina, an NGO which provides direct support to hundreds of refugee women and girls, particularly those who’ve suffered gender-based violence and human trafficking, in Belgrade, Serbia. 

Russian prima ballerina, Irina Kolesnikova, visited refugee camps in Tabanovce, Preševo and Krnjača and announced a new version of “Carmen” of the St. Petersburg Ballet Company, which seeks to highlight the problems of refugees in Europe. With the support of the international humanitarian organisation Oxfam, Kolesnikova wants to show how the answer to one of the biggest crises in Europe can also be provided through art, and she will, together with the choreographer of the St. Petersburg Ballet Company, set up a new “Carmen”.

Speaking about human trafficking is somehow surreal. It feels like talking about horror movies, but it is a sad reality for thousands of people. According to a UN report published last year, from 2010 and 2012, 510 human trafficking routes around the world and victims from 152 countries were detected.