Vienna, Austria - 10 June 2021 – The bi-annual GLO.ACT Project Steering Committee Meetings (PSC) are an opportunity for all partners to discuss the implementation of the project, partnership coordination, decision-making processes, policy consideration, and synergies with other programmes and projects.
Addressing the participants of the PSC, Ilias Chatzis, Chief, Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section, said, "For us, GLO.ACT is a flagship project. We are halfway through its implementation, and a significant bulk of the work has already been done." Speaking about the highly volatile and complex political environments GLO.ACT operates in, Mr Chatzis said "The region continues to remain challenging. The departure of the US forces and their allies from Afghanistan will be a landmark moment for peace, stability, and security in the region but also for all the allied issues, including crime rates, flows from the region and of course human trafficking". He concluded by reiterating that "The EU remains a key partner to the United Nations as a whole, and we are proud to join forces with you through GLO.ACT."
Camilla Hagstrom, Deputy Head of Migration and Forced Displacement, European Commission – DG INTPA, echoed Mr Chatzis points on the value of the partnership between the EU and UNODC and GLO.ACT. She said, "I would like to reiterate that also for us, GLO.ACT is a flagship programme, not just in Asia and the Middle East but we see this as something that can be expanded and replicated in other regions." Concluding, Ms Hagstrom mentioned the project's pioneering work on gender, acknowledging that the gender dimension in Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants is not a new issue but that the work GLO.ACT undertakes highlights the critical importance of the issue as does the newly adopted EU Strategy on Combatting Trafficking in Human Beings (2021-2025).
The PSC provided UNODC and IOM with the opportunity to update EU colleagues on the progress made regarding the project's implementation across all five partner countries, discuss challenges, point out lessons learnt, and propose solutions.
Maria Chiara Piazza, Project Manager, EU DG-INTPA, concluded the meeting by saying, "It is great to see how the project is implementing on the ground but also how it is really actively contributing policy developments."
The next PSC is scheduled to take place in November 2021.
This project is funded by the European Union
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 (2018-2022), €12 million 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.
For more information
