In 2017 Kolkata Mary Ward Social Centre will be completing 3years of implementation of their Sensitization on Anti-Human Trafficking Project at the operational area of Canning 1 Block, a major gateway to enter the Sunderban Islands of West Bengal. The National Level Convergence Meet will create an opportunity for many INGO’s, NGO’s and Govt. Stakeholders & Academics to share the best practices applied in their domain areas of anti-human trafficking move, in both source and destination areas. The strategy of the Convergence Meet will be to ensure legal rights for the trafficking victims and survivors of human trafficking. KMWSC will try to develop a stronger network between the allied agencies for implementing better prevention methodologies in source areas for protection of women and children.

• As West Bengal shares international borders with Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal, there are cases of cross border trafficking due to high demand of commercial sex trade in red-light areas of Sonagachi and in other states too. Kolkata is becoming a hub of human trafficking as it acts both as a transit and destination point for the victims of human trafficking as well traffickers.
• Trafficking is a global issue and an organized crime, and there are less number of prosecution cases due to lack of evidence and withdrawal of witness due fear of life threat by the network of human traffickers at every level.
  Through this Convergence Meet of NGOs (National/International), CSOs and Govt. departments, KMWSC will try to create a chain of network of the respective stakeholders to advocate for the protection of victims/witness through legal procedures. Various govt. mechanisms are inactive in providing legal help to the survivors. Through this chain of network of NGOs, KMWSC as the host organization will try to ensure legal help to the victims of trafficking survivors through outsourcing lawyers, experts etc.
• Restoration and Repatriation of Survivors of Human Trafficking becomes a challenging part for the organization. Through this Convergence Meet the NGO’s from neighbouring countries will be officially partnered with the national level NGO’s and with the Department of Women and Child Development, Govt. of West Bengal. While there are multiple actors that are engaged in anti-human trafficking efforts, these actors tend to work in isolation with little dialogue between them. A conference would provide the venue and opportunity to bring these actors around a table and provide them the space for discussions free of inhibitions.

• Explore methods for sustainable and practical common convergence and cooperation amongst NGO’s and Government agencies over prevention, protection, prosecution, repatriation, rehabilitation, and re-integration of survivor.
• To assess the procedures undertaken by government agencies of the member countries to combat issues related to trafficking, exploitation and slavery and the way forward by civil society.
• To explore the methods and degrees of inter-organizational collaboration, cross monitoring policies and liason with the organizations working on the issues of trafficking among the member countries.
• To provide a platform for advocacy over the review and revision of the existing government policies and commitment related to the issues of human trafficking in SAARC countries.
• To indentify the state of research on the themes and issues surrounding human trafficking.
• To analyze new trends and anti-trafficking initiatives in the region.
• To explore repatriation models.
• Examine strategies for easier implementation of existing legislations for child protection and human trafficking.