The first Central Asia regional simulation-based training for anti-trafficking practitioners in OSCE history concluded today in Astana, Kazakhstan.
More than 100 professionals from the five Central Asian countries - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - attended the weeklong training course. They included representatives of law enforcement agencies, social service providers and civil society organizations.
The training gathered experts from a variety of fields to foster inter-agency collaboration and cross-border co-operation, as well as improve participants' skills and expertise in protecting the most vulnerable in our societies.
"The transnational nature of human trafficking requires closer co-operation between authorities from different countries and the adoption of joint measures to combat it. I hope this course will have a positive impact on stopping this grave crime," said Marat Seksembayev, Rector of the Law Enforcement Academy under the Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
In the context of large-scale migration flows in Central Asia, particularly from Afghanistan, the live-action simulation aimed at enhancing the criminal justice response to prosecute human traffickers operating along migration routes, while placing a special focus on sexual exploitation, forced labour and forced criminality. Particular emphasis was given to better equipping practitioners with tools to promptly identify victims and ensure adequate and effective protection mechanisms. Participants faced realistic scenarios where they worked in multi-agency teams and applied a victim-centred, trauma-informed, gender-sensitive and human rights-based approach.
"Giving you the opportunity to experience inter-agency simulated exercises will equip you with a network of contacts and skills which you will be able to directly apply in practice. Previous exercises in the OSCE region have shown that establishing professional contacts and facilitating knowledge-sharing amongst different agencies has delivered for victims, sometimes directly rescuing them from situations of exploitation. We hope to see these results continue in Central Asia." said Andrea Salvoni, OSCE Acting Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings.
The training was implemented in partnership with the Law Enforcement Academy under the Prosecutor General's Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), the United States Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the OSCE field operations in Central Asia.
Since 2016, when the OSCE project "Combating Human Trafficking along Migration Routes" began, the Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings has implemented nineteen simulation-based exercises involving over 2000 practitioners from 68 countries, including 55 participating States and seven Partners for Co-operation. The project is financed by Ireland, Italy, France, Lichtenstein, Malta, Monaco, Switzerland and the United States.
