Improving the capacity of the public sector representatives, the youth and the civil society

The workshop was aimed at conducting public awareness raising campaigns on the root causes, consequences and indicators of trafficking in persons which is the main instrument to preventing and revealing the crime. More than 15 representatives of government institutions and civil society organizations, including the office of Ombudsman, the Parliament, the Prosecutor General’s office, the Women’s Union, Ministries of Internal Affairs, Education, and Sport, and Youth Policy of Turkmenistan have improved the knowledge and skills on the effective cooperation of all sectors of the society to fight against trafficking in persons, on the effective tools of carrying out preventive measures within public awareness raising events; and on the role of mass media on the enlightenment of this issue among the population.

In the course of the workshop, UNODC international experts, Ms. Rimma Sultanova and Ms. Alena Muhovikova presented a ten-step approach for effective planning and implementation of public events devoted to the World Day against Trafficking in Persons, as well as the best practices of Central Asian countries, in particular, the “100 days against trafficking in persons” campaign in Kyrgyzstan. Ms. Sultanova noted that educational and awareness raising events play an important role in preventing this phenomenon, in the sense that as trafficking in persons cases are acknowledged by law enforcement and broader public, people are informed on relevant government initiatives, support systems, hotlines and etc.

Participants of the workshop expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to learn about the experiences of other countries in conducting systematic awareness raising campaigns, and they exchanged their achievements and challenges in carrying out public events, especially on TiP issues. Moreover, during the workshop, participants suggested and agreed on a number of ideas and activities devoted to the celebration of World Day against Trafficking in Persons which will be implemented across Turkmenistan this year. Towards the end of the workshop, participants drafted a document on Plan of Activities to celebrate the World Day against Trafficking in Persons in Turkmenistan which will be submitted for the government's approval.

The workshop was organized in close collaboration with USAID office in Turkmenistan.