Ashgabat – On May 26-27th of 2016, the IOM Mission in Turkmenistan in partnership with the Government of Turkmenistan and with the support of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (J/TIP), U.S. Department of the State, conducted the Regional Workshop on Coordinated Assistance and Victim-Centered Approach in Combating Human Trafficking.

The regional workshop brought together international experts, representatives from relevant law enforcement agencies and other government organizations as well as from public and international organizations involved in combating human trafficking from Turkmenistan, the Republic of Albania, the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Belarus, the Czech Republic, the Kingdom of Netherlands, the Republic of Moldova, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America.

The regional workshop aimed to increase the knowledge and understanding of participants on coordinated assistance and victim — centered approach to combat human trafficking as well as to review best practices for strengthening national legislation and bringing it in line with international standards through incorporation of a coordinated assistance and victim — centered approach.

During the regional workshop, the participants emphasized the special importance of victim- centered approach, coordinated assistance, encouraging victims of trafficking to collaborate with law enforcement agencies in combating human trafficking, which is one of the most serious problems of our time and requires global solutions. In this regard, the participants were familiarized with the definition of the victim — centered approach, key reasons why coordination matters, pros and cons for cooperation with law enforcement from the victim perspective. They also emphasized that the victim — centered approach can be incorporated into all elements of the assistance process from determining their own assistance package, to designing and evaluating assistance frameworks and law enforcement protocols as well as the several different mechanisms for coordination and critical elements for their success and many reasons victims have for refusing to cooperate. The participants exchanged experiences and good practices on identification and providing assistance to victims of trafficking taking into account a victim — centered approach, coordination assistance and encouraging victims to collaborate with law enforcement. During the workshop participants were also introduced to the challenges and possible solutions in ensuring a coordinated assistance and victim-centered approach in combating human trafficking. At the end of the workshop participants were broken into small groups based on three above mentioned sub-topics of the workshop and discussed the possibility of applying the acquired knowledge in the country. As a result they were to come up with two-three ideas which could be implemented.

This workshop complemented other previous and ongoing activities of the Mission of International Organization for Migration in Turkmenistan in the area of combating human trafficking which are being implemented in co-operation with national authorities.

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For additional questions, please contact:

Dovlet Chariyev

IOM Communication Focal Point

E-mail: dchariyev@iom.int

Tel:+99312 488407