KISS Deemed to be University, Bhubaneswar, India, and Universidad Pontificia Comillas, Madrid, Spain, jointly organized an invited lecture on ‘Trafficking in Persons in Europe’ on 30th May 2022. This lecture was organized as a part of the MoU signed between both the Universities on 29th January 2022. The critical areas of collaboration under this MoU are educational and academic collaboration, research projects and studies on social problems, technological research, development projects, development cooperation in the Third World, and European collaboration programmes.
Professor Deepak Kumar Behera, Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor, KISS-DU briefed about KISS and KISS-DU in his welcome address. He shared that KISS-DU emphasizes projects and research activities and extended an invitation to the delegation of Universidad Pontificia Comillas to pay a visit to KISS. Professor Behera concluded by expressing interest in joint projects and publications.
In her address, Dr. Paloma Bilbao-Calabuig, Vice-Rector (Academic Strategy, Innovation, and Internationalization), Universidad Pontificia Comillas, Spain, said that she is glad to open an event under the MoU signed between both the Universities. She added that we might be far in distance and culture, but both the universities have common goals of making the world a better place, so we are glad to collaborate with KISS-DU.
Dr. Carmen Meneses Falcon, Universidad Pontificia Comillas, Spain, presented the status of trafficking in persons in Europe. She touched upon how the victims are being supported, focusing on human trafficiking from the angle of financing organized crime, current status of trafficiking in women and girls for sexual exploitation, and the impact of the pandemic on women in prostitution trafficked persons. Dr. Carmen also briefed about the various departments and courses offered at their Universities and concluded by exploring different prospects of collaborative projects focusing on EU-funded programmes.
Professor Arun Acharya, Department of Anthropology, Sambalpur University, introduced the distinguished guests. Professor Acharya played an important role in coordinating with Universidad Pontificia Comillas to sign the MoU with KISS,Deemed to be University. Professor Jugal Kishore Mishra, Director Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC), proposed a Vote of Thanks.
