22 – 24 May 2024, Samarkand (Uzbekistan) - UNODC hosted the first ever Regional Multistakeholder Event on Gender and Human Rights Mainstreaming in Preventing and Countering Organized Crime in Central Asia and Southern Caucasus (CASC).
The event brought together over 50 stakeholders from national governments, academia, civil society organizations (CSOs), as well as other regional and international organizations, including UN Women, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, with the purpose of discussing best practices and challenges to effectively achieve gender and human rights mainstreaming in policies and legislation against organized crime.
Due to its location, at the intersection of major trafficking routes between Asia and Europe, the CASC region attracts both domestic and foreign organized criminal groups who are engaged in diverse illicit activities such as drug and human trafficking, money laundering, terrorism financing, counterfeiting, and the illegal exploitation of natural resources.
In an effort to tackle these challenges, the three day-workshop covered and stimulated discussions on a range of topics related to gender and human rights mainstreaming in the fight against organized crime, including the various roles women play in organized criminal groups, the link between human rights and the Organized Crime Convention, as well as tools to mainstream gender and human rights in policy and legislation development.
The workshop also provided an opportunity for CSOs to highlight the integral role that they play in the fight against organized crime and in the provision of support to victims and witnesses. During a dedicated panel discussion, presentations were delivered by the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime (GITOC) as well as civil organizations from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Georgia. The panel discussion emphasized the importance of ensuring effective cooperation between CSOs and governmental actors.
The workshop’s participants engaged in the development of a ‘mock’ gender and human rights-sensitive organized crime strategy, with the objective of preventing organized crime, pursuing organized criminal groups, protecting those vulnerable to organized crime, and promoting cooperation to meet these ends.
As highlighted in the opening remarks by Ms. Ashita Mittal, UNODC Regional Representative for Central Asia, “as the guardian of the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime – the main international instrument in the fight against this phenomenon – UNODC works to ensure the safety and well-being of everyone, regardless of their gender, race, age, religion or disability status”.
Representing the host country, Ms. Svetlana Artikova, Deputy Prosecutor of the Republic of Uzbekistan, emphasized the necessity of expanding regional and international cooperation in the field of countering transnational crime. She also highlighted the importance of developing and implementing strategies at both the national and regional levels to systematically carry out these activities.
With the continued dissemination of the UNODC Toolkit on Mainstreaming Gender and Human Rights in the Implementation of the UNTOC across the world, we are one step closer to a safer, more peaceful and sustainable world for all.
UNODC wishes to thank the Governments of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Canada for their generous support for the Gender and Human Rights Project.
