GLO.ACT coaching focuses on strengthening female law enforcement officers' external communication skills

02 December 2022, Islamabad – Effective communication builds trust. Whilst a lot of the specialist coaching provided by UNODC under the EU-funded GLO.ACT Asia and Middle East project focuses on enhancing technical skills, strengthening interpersonal skills is just as vital.

Acknowledging that effective communication can help reduce negative interactions and improve community-police relations, UNODC provided a specialist coaching session on communication on 24 August 2022 to female officers in Pakistan. This session was part of a series of coaching sessions on which UNODC is currently engaging a cohort of 25 female law enforcement officers.

The session focused on how communication can help shape service delivery towards the needs of the public. Addressing the participants, Emmanuelle Kunigk, UNODC/GLO.ACT Communication and Strategy Specialist explained, "Communication is more than face-to-face interactions. It includes making information available about what the police do and how they do it."

Ms Kunigk, together with UNODC Pakistan's communication team, ensured that the coaching focused on how effective communication relates to working on human trafficking and migrant smuggling cases. She explained that interpersonal skills are critical as officers will need these skills to perform his/her jobs adequality, be that investigating a crime, building trust with communities, or writing reports. She went on to say that "a key element is it is about understanding what others are saying while also being able to impart information to others in a concise and clear manner."

The coaching sessions included presentations on external and internal communication, group work and role-play. Participants developed messages and elevator pitches throughout the session while mindful of active listening and body language. The group discussions also allowed participants to share their experiences and challenges in communicating with peers, higher-ups, victims, and victims' families daily.

Reflecting on the coaching session, one of the participants wrote: "I liked the workshop. It was really interesting. It covered things we do not normally discuss but greatly impact our daily professional life."

The next coaching session for this cohort of female officers is scheduled to take place in Q1, 2023.

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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