Expanding the Partnership to Eradicate Global Trafficking in Persons and Forced Labor

On 27 August 2020, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Programme Office in Turkmenistan, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Safe Migration in Central Asia programme and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan held an online webinar on eradicating trafficking in persons and forced labor in line with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 8.7. Representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population, Institute of State, Democracy and Law of Turkmenistan as well as the Office of the Ombudsperson of Turkmenistan attended the event.

The webinar was opened by the US Ambassador in Turkmenistan, Mr. Matthew Klimow and the Head of the UNODC Program Office in Turkmenistan, Mr. Chary Atayev.

During the webinar, speakers from the UNODC, International Labor Organization, Council of Europe, UN Office of High Commissioner on Human Rights and their Turkmen colleagues considered how to accelerate and expand their joint efforts aimed at eradicating trafficking in persons and forced labour and achieving SDG Target 8.7. The participants deliberated on necessary national policies and their effective implementation; shared international and regional experience and practices; and provided examples of successful and innovative approaches to tackling forced labor and human trafficking in the region. At the end of the webinar, the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan highlighted the commitment of the State to combat trafficking in persons and forced labour, expressed the support and willingness to expand the cooperation on this area further.

This activity is part of the continuous efforts made by UNODC within the framework of the UNODC Regional Programme for Central Asia and its sub-programme that aims to support Turkmenistan’s efforts to strengthen the criminal justice response to trafficking in persons with funding provided by the US State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL).

 

Additional information:

*The cover image is a fragment from the painting by Yunusova Dilovar from Uzbekistan, one of the winners of Youth Against Human Trafficking Art Contest

Эта статья на русском

Video PSA on Human trafficking developed in Turkmenistan

 

For media inquiries please contact:

Shakhnoza Zafari

Communication and External Relations Officer

shakhnoza.zafari[at]un.org