Opening the conference, the OSCE special representative for the prevention of human trafficking, Helga Konrad, called for intensifying efforts aimed at combating human trafficking.
According to some estimates, up to two million children are annually exposed to various forms of violence, trade, sexual exploitation and forced and bonded labour.
Konrad added that over the past three years the number of children affected by trafficking had been on the rise in southeastern European countries and that children accounted for 30 percent of victims of trafficking in those states.
The Vienna conference pooled about 200 participants, government officials, international experts and nongovernmental organisations.
Luka Madjeric, a member of the Croatian delegation at the conference, said that Croatia had done much over the past year to combat this type of crime. Madjeric presented Croatia's national programme for the prevention of trafficking in humans for the 2005-2008 period. The Croatian delegation called on Konrad to visit Croatia and attend a conference on this topic, which would be held before the summer. Konrad accepted the invitation.