Law School students participated in the Constructive Dialogue on UNTOC organised by the United Nations in Vienna
On 7–8 October 2025, Andrei Paul Brădățan and Miruna Popescu, law students representing the Center for Human Rights and Migration (CDOM) of the Romanian-American University (RAU), took part at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) headquarters in Vienna in the expert meeting entitled “Constructive Dialogue on the UNTOC Review Process following the Working Group on Trafficking in Persons”, one of the most prominent international gatherings devoted to strengthening global cooperation in combating trafficking in persons.
“The experience at UNODC offered us a concrete understanding of how young people can contribute to the global efforts to counter organized crime and human trafficking. Our participation in Vienna further motivated us to develop projects that elevate youth voices within international decision-making processes.”, stated Andrei Paul Brădățan and Miruna-Elena Popescu.
The UNTOC Constructive Dialogue, a platform for enhanced international cooperation
Held immediately after the 15th Session of the Working Group on Trafficking in Persons, the Constructive Dialogue brought together representatives of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC), alongside international experts from non-governmental organizations and the academic community across the globe.
The central objective of the meeting was to assess the functioning of the UNTOC Implementation Review Mechanism, with particular emphasis on the role of non-governmental stakeholders and on evidentiary challenges encountered in trafficking in persons cases — especially those involving online-mediated offenses and digital fraud schemes.
Official programme of the event
The participation of the Romanian-American University delegation encompassed both working days of the programme:
- 7 October 2025 – “Multi-stakeholders’ Preparation Day”, a hybrid preparatory session convened at the Vienna International Centre (United Nations Complex), dedicated to analysing the outcomes of the 2024 meeting and identifying new opportunities for collaboration among UNODC, The Alliance of NGOs on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, to which RAU was formally invited to accede, and other international stakeholders. Among the featured speakers were representatives of the UNODC Civil Society Unit, the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Human Trafficking (UNVTF), the Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section (HTMSS), and The Alliance.
- 8 October 2025 – “Constructive Dialogue on the Review Process”, which included comprehensive presentations by the UNODC Secretariat on the current stage of the UNTOC Review Mechanism, followed by a thematic session entitled “Evidential Issues Related to Trafficking in Persons Cases, Especially Regarding Online Scams.” The day concluded with an extensive exchange of views on the role of international actors in advancing the effectiveness and inclusiveness of the United Nations framework to combat human trafficking.
The Romanian-American University’s Engagement
The participation of Andrei Paul Brădățan and Miruna-Elena Popescu took place under the auspices of the REACT Project, funded by the Netherlands National Police, and implemented through the Center for Human Rights and Migration (CDOM). This initiative of the Romanian-American University seeks to promote the active involvement of youth in international cooperation, applied legal research, and institutional dialogue on matters of human rights, migration, and transnational criminal justice.
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