GLO.ACT applies the “World Café” method during a champions roundtable discussion

13 December 2022, Islamabad – The transition from consultation to partnership to ownership lies at the heart of UNODC's approach to implementing the EU-funded GLO.ACT Asia and Middle East project across its partner countries, including Pakistan.

To ensure that the project achieves its intended effects and to better understand what works and what doesn't work, GLO.ACT held on 25 August 2022 a champions roundtable based on a "world café" approach in Islamabad, Pakistan. 

Central to the implementation approach taken by the GLO.ACT team has been a focus on the following:

•          Building a community of practice

•          Achieving operational-level impact

•          Meaningfully mainstream gender equality and human rights

•          Focus on quality instead of just quantity

•          Going local

•          Diversifying the evidence base

•          Promoting a holistic crime prevention approach

•          Seeking innovations

•          Developing exit and sustainability strategies

The champions roundtable, attended by over 15 (5 female, 10 male) representatives from the Federal Investigation Agency, the police, the judiciary and civil society from across Pakistan, allowed the GLO.ACT team to better understand successes in countering human trafficking and migrant smuggling through the GLO.ACT project, and existing barriers and identify solutions.

The "world café" approach was based on progressive rounds of conversations that addressed questions that genuinely mattered. This format includes several conversations, leading to a cross-pollination of issues, ideas and solutions.

The first round centred around the past and focused the participants' collective attention; the second round considered the presented, where groups connected ideas for deeper insights; the third and final round focused on the future, allowing the participants and the GLO.ACT team to create forward momentum.

When asked whether participants felt that the "world café" approach provided a collaborative and safe environment to exchange on progress made and existing barriers/challenges in countering human trafficking and migrant smuggling, 100 per cent of the survey respondents indicated that they felt it did.

Other participants noted that" It was a different type of learning and exchanging views and experiences" and that "It was an excellent session, especially by discussing the implementation of new laws with all sister agencies and law enforcement departments, we got awareness about the present status and fixed future plans and way forward in our areas of jurisdiction."

Looking ahead, the GLO.ACT team will use the findings and feedback collected through the roundtable to address some barriers/challenges that impact project implementation.

The Global Action against Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants – Asia and the Middle East (GLO.ACT-Asia and the Middle East) is a four-year  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) in up to five countries: Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (Afghanistan), Islamic Republic of Iran (I.R. of Iran), Republic of Iraq (Iraq), Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Pakistan). GLO.ACT-Bangladesh is a parallel initiative also financed by the EU and implemented with IOM.

The project builds on a global community of practice set in motion in GLO.ACT 2015-2019 and assists governmental authorities and civil society organizations in targeted, innovative, and demand-driven interventions: sustaining effective strategy and policy development, legislative review and harmonization, capability development, and regional and trans-regional cooperation. The project also provides direct assistance to victims of human trafficking and vulnerable migrants through the strengthening of identification, referral, and protection mechanisms. The project is fully committed to mainstreaming Human Rights and Gender Equality considerations across all of its activities.

 

The project is funded by the European Union.

For more information, please contact:

Ms. Shahida Gillani, National Project Officer

Email: Shahida.gillani@un.org

For more information, please visit:

https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/glo-act2/index.html

Email: glo.act@un.org

Twitter:  @glo_act

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