GLO.ACT-Bangladesh strengthens understanding of human rights and gender equality issues in criminal justice responses to human trafficking
Dhaka, Bangladesh 15 July 2022 – UNODC, under the framework of the Global Action against Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants – Bangladesh (GLO.ACT - Bangladesh), facilitated an expert session on the UNODC toolkit for mainstreaming Human Rights and Gender Equality into criminal justice interventions to address trafficking in persons (TIP) and the smuggling of migrants (SOM) on 26 May 2022.
A webinar introducing the toolkit took place on 22 December 2021 in Bangladesh, in line with the theme for Human Rights Day 2021. Receiving positive feedback, the participants referred to the toolkit as an important resource for stakeholders to combat both crimes. One of the recommendations from the webinar was to tailor the toolkit to specific interventions and disseminate the tools amongst the stakeholders in Bangladesh.
Following up on this recommendation GLO.ACT – Bangladesh engaged virtually with a multi-stakeholder panel which included representatives from law enforcement agencies, ministries and academia. After a round of introductions, Eurídice Márquez, GLO.ACT Programme Management Officer provided an overview of the toolkit and thanked the participants for their continuous engagement with the GLO.ACT-Bangladesh project. She then presented the toolkit’s interactive website that allows users to access the different tools online and download them for offline use if required. The PDF version of the toolkit can be downloaded here.
Mahdy Hassan, National Programme Officer of GLO.ACT – Bangladesh moderated the opening discussion, where participants discussed utilizing the tools to increase coordination between NGOs, investigating officers and prosecutors. During the discussions, different risk assessment tools for stakeholders involved in countering TIP and SOM were highlighted, along with strategies to effectively disseminate and integrate the toolkit within existing mechanisms used by the criminal justice practitioners.
Mohammad Golam Sarwar, Assistant Professor at the University of Dhaka, stated “Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the connection between human rights and gender equality is even more evident, and now the challenge is to convert the text into practice. We must focus on reaching out to the victims as often policy discussions are inaccessible to them due to the language barrier. Marginalized communities should know their rights since human trafficking largely remains unreported.”
Looking ahead, GLO.ACT – Bangladesh will identify relevant tools for different target groups through focused group discussions and plans to engage with the National Human Rights Commission and the National Legal Aid Service Organization to contextualize and mainstream the toolkit.
GLO.ACT - Bangladesh is a joint initiative by the European Union (EU) and the UNODC being implemented in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), led by the Givernment of Bangladesh. GLO.ACT-Bangladesh builds on a global community of practice set in motion in GLO.ACT 2015-2019 in 13 partner countries across Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America.
Through targeted, innovative and demand-driven interventions, the GLO.ACT aims to support the Government of Bangladesh and civil society organizations to more effectively fight the crimes of human trafficking and migrant smuggling across the country. The project works on developing evidence-based information on trafficking and smuggling patterns and trends, legislative review and harmonization, capability development of criminal justice actors, and international cooperation. The project also provides direct assistance to victims of human trafficking and migrants in vulnerable situations through the strengthening of identification, referral, and protection mechanisms.
The project is funded by the European Union.
For more information, please contact:
Mahdy Hassan: muhammad.hassan@un.org
Twitter: @glo_act