UNODC Teaching Module Series on Prevention of Terrorism, Trafficking in Persons and Migrants Smuggling handed over to the Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan

Education for children and young people plays an important role in shaping the values of future generations, creating a collective consciousness, restructuring public preferences, supplementing them with the necessary skills to build respect for the law in future generations, promote the principles of the rule of law, and prevent crime. 

Using education as a tool to prevent crime and promote the rule of law and peace is the focus of the Teaching Module Series developed by UNODC, covering the issues related to anti-corruption, organized crime, trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants, firearms, cybercrime, wildlife crime, counterterrorism as well as integrity and ethics.

To support the efforts of Turkmenistan in the implementation of the country’s strategic priorities in countering trafficking in persons, as well preventing terrorism and violent extremism, UNODC Teaching Modules Series on prevention of trafficking in persons and terrorism were translated into Turkmen and Russian languages jointly by UNODC, the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) and the United Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA) project “Towards a comprehensive implementation of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (UNGCTS) in Central Asia – Phase IV” and USAID funded "Safe Migration in Central Asia " Programme and handed over to the Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan on 06 June 2023.  

Chary Atayev, Officer in Charge of the UNODC Programme Office in Turkmenistan in his opening speech noted: “The materials that we translated into Russian and Turkmen with our partners from the UNOCT, UNRCCA and the “Safe Migration in Central Asia” Programme are the most important innovative and comprehensive educational tools designed to contribute to the implementation of the principles of crime prevention and criminal justice in to the education system at all levels, which is critical in building long-term approaches to combating crime and violence, and is also essential in ensuring the rule of law, respecting it from an early age, in order to create a safe and prosperous society for everyone, leaving no one behind.”

Karina Timsina, UNOCT Regional Coordination Officer, emphasized that the low level of literacy might make people exposed to extremist propaganda and recruitment into extremist groups. Therefore, most of the national strategies in the region to counter terrorism and violent extremism make a strong focus on improving the literacy of communities, including legal literacy.   

“This initiative contributes to the implementation of global, regional and national strategies in the field of countering violent extremism and terrorism, thereby influencing the security, health and well-being of the countries of Central Asia and Turkmenistan", - she noted.

The handover ceremony was attended by the representatives of the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Institute of Education, State Civil Service Academy under the President of Turkmenistan, Ashgabat city Municipality and the Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The UNODC Teaching Modules Series resources have been developed by UNODC in collaboration of a variety of partners, ranging from governments to academic and non-governmental organizations, as well as in partnership with UNESCO, over 600 academics and experts from over 550 universities and 114 countries and involving above all the ultimate target audience: teachers and students to create a deeper understanding of rule of law related issues, with a focus on the subject areas of organized crime, trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants, firearms, cybercrime, wildlife crime as well as counter-terrorism.

For further information please contact:              

Arifa Fatikhova    

Communications and External Relations Officer 

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) 

Regional Office for Central Asia

Mobile: (+998 99) 825-05-43 | Email: arifa.fatikhova[at]un.org