Researchers, policy makers, representatives from sex work, drug use, Roma and migrant communities had the opportunity to follow more than 60 workshops and presentations, interactive discussions, a film program and satellite meetings of the SWAN and the INPUD networks.

The participants had an opportunity to ask questions and give comments to the Ambassador of the Netherlands in Bulgaria, Mr Willem van Ee; representatives of Bulgarian NGOs, Mr Rumen Donski and Mrs Elena Kabakchieva; representatives of WHO, Jeff Lazarus; Ernst Buning from IHRA and Matt Curtis of OSI.

SWAN network was represented by SWAN members from Russia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan. Marija Tosheva (HOPS) and Angelina Georgieva (HESED) brought their team members from Macedonia and Bulgaria. Shahnaz Islamova (Tais Plus, Kyrgyzstan) took part in an interactive discussion with 5 more conference participants from different countries. Irina Maslova (Humanitarian Action, Russia) made a presentation about Humanitarian Action’s experience in peer education and outreach work.

The conference was a good opportunity for meeting new people, establishing new connections and catching up on developments with already existing partners. The satellite meeting of ICRSE and SWAN attracted attention of other participants who also supported sex workers rights in their countries. SWAN shared their plan of actions for 17 of December, International Day to End Violence against Sex Workers, and in return got a lot of valuable comments and ideas.

SWAN members would like to thank donors and sponsors of “Crossing Borders” Conference as well as Correlation Network team for providing scholarships for sex workers and giving them the opportunity to learn from the experience of others and to share their own.

Correlation network will publish all presentations and outcomes of the conference on hard copy and on this website as soon as possible.
For more information: www.correlation-net.org