Trafficking in persons is complex, difficult to investigate, and a growing global criminal activity. Law Enforcement Agencies perform a key role in preventing and combating this criminal activity. However, constant capacity strengthening, as well as awareness of trends is vital to counter effectively trafficking in persons and identify and protect victims. The crime of trafficking in persons is evolving, new forms are being developed and the modus operandi of the perpetrators is continuously adapting, therefore regular training and strengthening capacities of criminal justice practitioners is an essential part of the fight against trafficking in persons.

In support of the efforts of the Government in the field of countering trafficking in persons, UNODC jointly with the USAID's Safe Migration in Central Asia Program and the USAID's Governance Support Program in Turkmenistan held a 5-day training workshop on " Enhancing approaches to address trafficking in persons (TIP)" on June 27-July 1, 2022, for relevant practitioners of criminal justice sector.

The training workshop was based on the UNODC’s anti-human trafficking manual for criminal justice practitioners and included sessions on labor trafficking investigation and trainer/facilitator guidelines for conducting further cascading the knowledge during the on-the-job trainings. For this purpose, the UNODC manual has been translated into the Turkmen language.

The key focus of the training workshop was aimed at enhancing the knowledge and skills of criminal justice practitioners in preventing, identifying, investigating and prosecuting trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants cases, whilst ensuring a victim-centered approach and due assistance and support to victims of trafficking.

Participants were familiarized with the international framework based on the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, the national legislation of Turkmenistan on countering trafficking in persons and respective amendments to the Criminal Code of Turkmenistan.

This is the first in a planned series of such training sessions, planned to be conducted for various relevant stakeholders in Turkmenistan.

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