Kabul, Afghanistan – 17 March 2021- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) delivered a capacity building workshop on 10 and 11 March 2021 for Afghan government officials and partners on screening, referring, and assisting victims of trafficking and smuggled migrants. The workshop is a component of the Global Action Against Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants (GLO.ACT-Asia and the Middle East), which is jointly implemented by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and IOM.
The training was facilitated by IOM staff in Kabul, officials from the Ministry of Justice, the Trafficking-in-Persons Technical Committee, and IOM trainer who joined virtually from Geneva. There were also participants from the Afghanistan Human Rights Commission, Attorney General, Ministry of Public Health, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Supreme Court, and others. In total there were 23 participants, composed of 20 men and 3 women.
The modules were designed around the current situation in Afghanistan and building on previous progress made on responding to trafficking and smuggling. Afghanistan is in a unique position with the existence of a finalized and fully endorsed National Referral Mechanism (NRM). In this regard, the workshop benefitted from this existing foundation and previous training and experience of some participants on screening, referring, and assisting vulnerable migrants.
An overview of the Determinants of Migrant Vulnerability Model was presented, accompanied by small group work with hypothetical scenarios to determine if the situation represented trafficking or smuggling or some combination of both. There were presentations and discussion about the current context of trafficking and smuggling in Afghanistan, inclusive of background, legislation, National Plan of Action, summary of the National Referral Mechanism, challenges, and opportunities for strengthening the response to migration. Additionally, indicators of trafficking and screening forms included in the National Referral Mechanism were analyzed with exercises to apply these tools to additional scenarios. Finally, modules covering the case management approach, principles of migrant assistance were completed, in addition to small group exercises to map existing services and resources included in the NRM.
A co-facilitator of the training from the CTiP Secretariat in the Ministry of Justice said, “The training held by IOM and CTiP Secretariat covered identifying, screening, and referring which are important subjects that will help participants in the area of implementation and to be more effective in their work.”
This national workshop also allowed for building and strengthening coordination across different government Ministries and to raise awareness in general about the National Referral Mechanism and moving towards its implementation. This training was the first of a series of training components under the GLO.ACT project. The next training sessions will cover direct assistance to vulnerable migrants and use of the NRM in more detail, as well as highlighting the specific needs and processes required for assisting migrant children in migration flows.
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 (2018-2022), €12 million 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 established in the first phase of GLO.ACT 2015-2019. Through this project IOM and UNODC assist 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:
Farzana Arefi: IOM Program Assistant
Email: farefi@iom.int
https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/glo-act2/index.html
Email: unodc-glo.act@un.org
Twitter: @glo_act
For more information on the Protection and Assistance for Migrants Vulnerable to Violence, Exploitation and Abuse, please access IOM’s Handbook:
https://www.iom.int/iom-handbook-migrant-protection-and-assistance