Peter Van Hauwermeiren

Having worked in various Belgian Social and Labour Inspection organizations since 1995, Peter Van Hauwermeiren has been an active partner in the Belgian multidisciplinary network of actors in the field of combating human trafficking since 1995. From 2017 till 30 April 2024 he was head of the Anti-trafficking Directorate within the Belgian National Social Security Office (NSSO) Inspectorate. His main task there was to develop strategies for inspection and investigation activities in the area of labour trafficking. Since January 2021 he is a member of the Council of Europe Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA). GRETA is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. GRETA members carry out country visits which result in the publishing of country reports evaluating the measures taken by the Parties to the Convention. Since May 2024 Peter is working as an independent expert for the "Better Migration Management" (BMM) program in the Horn of Africa, which is jointly supported by CIVIPOL, the British Council, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). His contribution to the project consists in the development of Guidelines for labour inspection services and of regional and national training curricula for countries in the region, with an eye to involving labour inspectors in those countries in the prevention and combating of labour trafficking. As an advocate of a strong multidisciplinary approach, he has a solid experience in investigating trafficking cases, cooperating with prosecutors, police and victim support providers. His focus is on maximizing the potential which labour inspectors’ powers and wide presence on the field offer to increase victim detection capacity and on both building up a strong case for prosecution and paying attention to the victims’ rights to protection and compensation. He has a vast experience in capacity building and has developed and conducted training programs for frontline actors. In the past two decades he shared his expertise on international forums and contributed to anti-trafficking initiatives and projects conducted by various international organizations (the Council of Europe, OSCE, ILO, IOM, ICMPD, HEUNI, EU/Europol’s EMPACT and others).

All sessions from Peter Van Hauwermeiren

 

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