Casablanca, Morocco - 23 May 2019 - Under the framework of the Global Action against Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants ( GLO.ACT), UNODC organized a second sub-regional workshop between Morocco, Mali and Niger from 24 to 25 April 2019.The workshop is the direct result of a previous sub-regional event held last year in Niamey, Niger between 16 to 18 April 2018. A set of recommendations were finalised at the conclusion of the first meeting between the three countries and these recommendations served as the basis for the second sub-regional event in Casablanca.
The first sub-regional workshop focused on building a community of practice, improving international cooperation against Trafficking in Persons (TIP) and Smuggling of Migrants (SOM) and explored the possibility of preparing a tripartite judicial and security agreement to legally formalize the exchange of information when it comes to combatting TIP and SOM.
This second meeting provided senior officials and experts in the field with an opportunity to take stock of what had happened in the previous year, discuss new challenges, solidify the proposed tripartite judicial and security agreement and international cooperation between the countries more broadly. At the conclusion of the workshop all three countries agreed to adopt several operational recommendations:
This workshop, and the recommendations that have been adopted as a result, point to the focus on sustainability built into GLO.ACT and empowers the three countries to take local ownership in combatting TIP and SOM well beyond the initial implementation period of the project in the region.
The Global Action to Prevent and Address Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants (GLO.ACT), a four-year (2015-2019), €11 million joint initiative by the European Union and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The project is being implemented in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and reaches thirteen countries across Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. GLO.ACT works with the 13 countries to plan and implement strategic national counter-trafficking and counter smuggling efforts through a prevention, protection, prosecution, and partnerships approach.
To see the recommendations from the first sub-regional workshop click here.
For more information, please contact
Sara Bentefrit
National Project Officer
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/glo-act/index.html
Email: glo.act@unodc.org
Twitter: @glo_act