Islamabad, Pakistan 17 March 2022 – UNODC, under the EU funded GLO.ACT Asia and The Middle East project, conducted on 7 March 2022 a five-day Training of Trainers (ToT) on the Trafficking in Persons’ revised manual for officials of the Punjab Police Training Institutes. The workshop was part of UNODC’s efforts of providing technical assistance to the Punjab Police to combat internal trafficking in Pakistan.
GLO.ACT conducted a series of meetings with the offices of the Inspector General and Police Training Institutes of Punjab, conducted a Training Need Assessment (TNA), developed a module on Trafficking in Persons, and later held prioritization and validation workshops to ensure the standardization of the module. Instructors of Punjab Police Training Institutes validated the manual. The TOT was one of the last activities of the project. 17 Police Instructors (15 male, 2 females) enhanced their technical knowledge on human trafficking, migrant smuggling, international and national legislations, data management, human rights, and victim protection. Further, this TOT enhanced their soft skills, including facilitation, communication, presentation, and training arrangement/coordination. Thus apart from gaining technical knowledge, the police instructors enhanced their training delivery skills.
While delivering opening remarks, Mr Asad Muzaffar, SSP Investigation, Punjab Police, said, “Trafficking in Persons is s one of the gravest forms of exploitation and a severe violation of human rights. Crime is prevalent all over the world and is impacting almost every society. We can see it in Pakistan as well, especially in the form of forced labour and sexual exploitation”. He added, “In previous years, Pakistan made some visible efforts to combat this organized crime. The enactment of the Prevention of Trafficking in Person Act 2018 is a significant achievement of our country. Now that internal trafficking is under the remit of provincial police, we must develop an understanding of the problem - not only from an enforcement angle but also from a national, regional, and global socio-economic perspective. Being instructors of the police force, you must have a thorough understanding of the regional and global context. We are thankful to UNODC for providing technical assistance to Punjab Police.”
Over the five days of training, the participants developed an understanding of TIP and SOM, learned the differences, studied and discussed national law and policing actions, gained insights into the importance of data collection in TIP, gender and human rights perspectives. At the end of each day, participants engaged in group work where they discussed the day’s learning and delivered presentations. The participants also developed fictitious case studies related to internal trafficking.
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 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.
This project is funded by the European Union.
For more information, please contact:
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
Nation-wide awareness-raising campaign in Pakistan, please like and share:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UNODCCOPAK.GloAct/
Twitter: @GLOACTPakistan