To achieve this, the event presented UNODC Toolkit on the Investigation and Prosecution of Trafficking in Persons for Organ Removal to the participants. Preceding this workshop, GLO.ACT launched the Arabic version of the Toolkit at the Inter-Regional Conference on International Cooperation in Criminal Matters related to the Investigation and Prosecution of TIP and Smuggling of Migrants, held on the 10 July 2023 in Egypt.

At the workshop GLO.ACT officials also presented recent research findings on evidence for the prevention of TIP for organ removal in Iraq, especially the Kurdistan Region. It further entailed presentations on illicit organ removal in Iraq and internationally, international and national legal frameworks on TIP for organ removal, investigation techniques for TIP for organ removal, and TIP victim identification and protection measures. Moreover, there was an open discussion of Iraqi case studies relating to TIP for organ removal, as well as practical exercises including mock interview exercises.

The event ended with participants' suggestions on how to improve cooperation between the health sector, criminal justice practitioners, and civil society to better address this form of exploitation. The workshop participants made several recommendations, some of which included the development of a national organ donor register, language and IT training for TIP crime investigators, legislative amendments, and increasing the number of officers investigating such crimes, to name a few.

The workshop was attended by 23 participants, 21 of them male and two female, representing HCJ, MOH, the MOI of Federal Iraq and Kurdistan Region (KRI), internal security forces of KRI – the Assayish, SEED Foundation Kurdistan and IOM. The event was facilitated by GLO.ACT project coordinator Aimée Comrie, GLO.ACT project regional advisor Martin Reeve, GLO.ACT project officers Omeed Salih and Zubaida Shakir, and international expert Aonghus Kelly.

The Global Action against Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants – Asia and the Middle East (GLO.ACT-Asia and the Middle East) is a four-year joint initiative by the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) being implemented in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in up to five countries: Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (Afghanistan), Islamic Republic of Iran (I.R. of Iran), Republic of Iraq (Iraq), Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Pakistan). GLO.ACT-Bangladesh is a parallel initiative also financed by the EU and implemented with IOM.

The project builds on a global community of practice set in motion in GLO.ACT 2015-2019 and assists governmental authorities and civil society organizations in targeted, innovative, and demand-driven interventions: sustaining effective strategy and policy development, legislative review and harmonization, capability development, and regional and trans-regional cooperation. The project also provides direct assistance to victims of human trafficking and vulnerable migrants through the strengthening of identification, referral, and protection mechanisms. The project is fully committed to mainstreaming Human Rights and Gender Equality considerations across all of its activities.

Access the Toolkit here: UNODC Toolkit on the Investigation and Prosecution of Trafficking in Persons for Organ Removal 

The project is funded by the European Union

For more information, please contact:

https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/glo-act2/index.html

Email: unodc-glo.act@un.org

Twitter: @glo_act