The director of programmes and development for the Americas, North Africa and the Middle East, Mrs Karine Ruel, went from July 12 to July 15 to Panama in order to meet with key partners involved in the fight against human trafficking, thus reinforcing the cooperation between police authorities in Costa Rica and Panama. 

In that respect, exchanges of good practices have taken place between instructors from the police academy in Panama and those from Costa Rica, notably on the content and methodology used for training in the fight against trafficking. In addition, an exchange meeting on good Canadian practices was also held between the IBCR and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Liaison Officer Michel Drayton. These exchanges will help to improve police training material in Costa Rica during a future course on human trafficking.

During this mission, Mrs Ruel also met partners from different international organisations, such as the United Nations Refugee Agency, the International Organisation for Migrations (OIM Panama) as well as the National Commission against Human Trafficking, the goal being to understand Panama’s current challenges and advances in the fight against human trafficking, especially children.