Dhaka, Bangladesh, 13 February 2020 - UNODC, under the Global Action against Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants - Bangladesh ( GLO.ACT-Bangladesh) held a national consultation from 19 to 23 January 2020 with government counterparts, UN agencies, donor agencies and civil society organizations. The objective of the consultation was to finalize the preparations for GLO.ACT implementation in Bangladesh and start delivering activities to address human trafficking and migrant smuggling as per the agreed workplan.
The consultation, which included holding 16 meetings with the various counterparts, was facilitated by the Programme Office in Bangladesh in coordination with the GLO.ACT HQ team and the Regional Office for South Asia (ROSA) and the Regional Section for South Asia, East Asia and the Pacific in the Division for Operations in Vienna.
At the end of the week, the consultation achieved the 3 goals it had set out to accomplish:
Following the consultation and two workshops with the criminal justice actors, GLO.ACT and its partners agreed to several follow-up actions. These include organizing a validation workshop in April 2020 based on the findings of the two workshops with judges, prosecutors and law enforcement agencies to finalize the capacity-building strategy under the framework of GLO.ACT-Bangladesh, among other planned activities.
Upon conclusion of the consultation, national counterparts (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs) as well as other national counterparts, international partners and donors, expressed their appreciation for the timely delivery of services and UNODC's work in the country. The EU Delegation in Dhaka also conveyed its appreciation for GLO.ACT's swift implementation of preparatory activities.
The Global Action against Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants - Bangladesh (GLO.ACT - Bangladesh) is a joint initiative by the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) being implemented in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM). GLO.ACT-Bangladesh builds on a global community of practice set in motion in GLO.ACT 2015-2019 in 13 partner countries across Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America.
Through targeted, innovative and demand-driven interventions, the GLO.ACT aims to support the Government of Bangladesh and civil society organizations to more effectively fight the crimes of human trafficking and migrant smuggling across the country. The project works on developing evidence-based information on trafficking and smuggling patterns and trends, legislative review and harmonization, capability development of criminal justice actors, and international cooperation. The project also provides direct assistance to victims of human trafficking and migrants in vulnerable situations through the strengthening of identification, referral, and protection mechanisms.
The project is funded by the European Union
For more information, please contact:
Mr. Mahdy Hassan muhammad.hassan@un.org
Email: unodc-glo.act@un.org
https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/glo-act3/index.html
Twitter: @glo_act