Baghdad, 4-5 June 2024 Attended by fifteen officials from ten major governmental entities, the first in-person training workshop on the UNTOC Review Mechanism was jointly organized by the Iraqi Ministry of Interior (MOI) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in coordination with the Permanent Mission of Iraq to the United Nations to Vienna. The workshop took place in Baghdad at the premises of the MOI over the course of two days, on 4-5 June. The Iraqi team, composed of nominated Governmental Experts and the Focal Point, exchanged knowledge with UNODC on the details of the peer review mechanism as part of the 1st thematic cluster under review and the engagement of Iraq in the process. The training, financed by GLOACT, was a response to a request from the Iraqi government for the Secretariat of the Review Mechanism to provide further assistance through an in-person capacity building activity in Baghdad.
The training covered the different parts related to the UNTOC country reviews including presentations on the procedural and substantive aspects of the self-assessment questionnaire and the subsequent steps, namely the written feedback and the list of observations and its summaries. Participants actively discussed how to use the acquired knowledge to reinforce Iraq’s participation in the Mechanism both as a reviewing State and as a State party under review. The Secretariat also presented on the general review of UNTOC and the Protocols thereto and provided a practical session on the use of REVMOD. The Iraqi officials attending the workshop provided positive feedback on the knowledge acquired and mentioned that it would enable them to perform more efficiently in the review process. The Iraqi officials expressed their strong commitment to the Mechanism and confirmed interest in participating at the upcoming session of the Conference of the Parties in October as well as the subsequent Working Groups.
UNODC will continue to provide the support to UNTOC Parties to effectively participate in the UNTOC review process and will endeavour to replicate the Baghdad workshop in the near future.
****
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is implementing the European Union-(EU) funded PROTECT initiative within the framework of GLO.ACT across Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and Tajikistan. This initiative also addresses challenges in the broader Central Asia region, including the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan, with a primary focus on enhancing the effectiveness of responses to trafficking in persons (TIP) and smuggling of migrants (SOM), particularly in relation to criminal justice. Meanwhile, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) is responsible for implementing the PROTECT initiative in Afghanistan (specifically through virtual MRC Afghanistan), Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Their primary objectives include improving gender-sensitive and rights-based migration governance at the national level and establishing Migrant Resource Centres (MRCs).
The project is funded by the European Union.
For more information, please contact:
Aimée Comrie (Ms.), Coordinator, GLO.ACT, Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section, UNODC
Email: aimee.comrie@un.org
Golda Myra ROMA (Ms.), Senior Project Manager, ICMPD Silk Routes Region – Budapest Process
Email: Golda.Roma@icmpd.org