According to the UK Government, a UK-funded project delivered by the International Organization for Migration in Costa Rica has been used to strengthen the country’s response to trafficking in persons. The work brought together public institutions, private-sector bodies and local communities with the stated aim of improving how vulnerable people are identified, protected and referred for support. Set out as a practical intervention rather than an awareness campaign alone, the project shows how anti-trafficking prevention is built through several layers at once. Community recognition, institutional co-ordination and sector-specific safeguarding all sit within the same response when authorities are trying to reduce exploitation before it escalates.
In Los Chiles, near Costa Rica’s northern border, the project included a school-based session that brought together children, teachers and community leaders. The focus was operational: how trafficking can be recognised, prevented and reported, which warning signs to watch for, and where help can be sought when a concern is identified. That setting is important. Schools and community venues are often among the first places where risks become visible, particularly where children and families may be exposed to heightened vulnerability. In the GOV.UK account, the Los Chiles session is presented as an example of how a hidden issue can be translated into a safeguarding response that local people can use.
The project was not limited to frontline awareness. UK Government reporting says it aimed to build a more co-ordinated national system, linking early identification with protection and prevention rather than treating each as a separate function. Costa Rican partners included the National Coalition Against Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants, known as CONATT, the Costa Rican Tourism Institute, the Ministry of Public Security and the Migration Directorate, DGME. For policy professionals, that partner list matters because it places trafficking prevention across migration management, public security, tourism oversight and community safeguarding, rather than leaving the issue solely to criminal justice agencies.
One of the clearest delivery strands sat in the tourism sector. The initiative worked with tourism institutions and businesses to strengthen safeguarding measures and to reinforce the sector’s role in prevention and early identification. That approach reflects a straightforward policy view: trafficking risks can surface in ordinary commercial settings as well as in police intelligence or formal casework. Hotels, travel services and other visitor-facing staff may encounter warning signs, but only if workers know what to look for and how to report concerns safely.
The project concluded with an activity on 3 August to mark World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, which is observed each year on 30 July. A new Spanish-language guide was launched to help tourism workers prevent, detect and report human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents. The guide is a material output with practical value beyond the closing event itself. Written procedures and reporting guidance are often where public campaigns become repeatable practice, particularly in sectors where staff turnover can be high and prior safeguarding training uneven.
In comments issued through the British Embassy, Ambassador Edward Stevens said trafficking often begins when people are made invisible and argued that the project had helped strengthen the people and systems able to recognise risks, respond safely and connect those at risk with support. The UK Government framed the initiative as part of its broader work against trafficking and modern slavery through practical partnership. The emphasis is on a people-centred response, where prevention is tied to safe reporting routes, institutional capacity and access to protection rather than awareness activity in isolation.
For readers tracking anti-trafficking policy, the Costa Rica project offers a clear example of how prevention works in practice. Community sessions create recognition at local level, public bodies carry referral and protection functions, and sector guidance gives employers and workers a defined role in spotting and reporting abuse. The broader message in the GOV.UK article is that trafficking prevention rarely turns on a single intervention. Instead, the response described here depends on schools, tourism providers, migration authorities and public security bodies working towards the same safeguarding objective: earlier identification, safer reporting and a stronger route to support for people at risk.