Vienna, Austria – 23 June 2021 – To continue to strengthen the capacity and knowledge of members of the GLO.ACT Women’s Network, the third of a four-part workshop series on leadership and management, took place from 1 to 2 June 2021.
The Women’s Network of Gender Champions against Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling is an active community of female officials and male champions of women’s rights working in policymaking, the justice sector, law enforcement, civil society and other relevant local entities. The network was constituted to help address the gendered nature of trafficking in persons (TIP) and smuggling of migrants (SOM), and serious underrepresentation of women working in and/or leading institutions responding to human trafficking and migrant smuggling.
Day one started with a presentation by Jane Townsley, Consultant and Police Advisor, that led participants through topics such as dealing with conflict, demonstrating personal presence, negotiating, influencing, taking personal responsibility, and delivering and receiving feedback.
Day two of the workshop continued with interactive group work focused on delivering constructive feedback to colleagues. After break-out sessions that included discussing feedback role-play videos, senior female leaders from GLO.ACT partner countries shared their personal leadership stories with the participants, focusing on how they have dealt with conflict situations. The panellists w also shared their tips for stress management, and participants had the opportunity to ask questions of the panellists.
Former Vice President and Minister, shared her leadership insights. She highlighted the importance to have determination, the need to know one’s environment. She explained that one needs to keep learning to grow in self-confidence and build the capacity of other women.
Brigadier General also spoke about her leadership journey, stressing how she got involved in various committees and networks and continuously worked on human rights and women issues. She also emphasised the importance of training and the will to keep learning.
Meanwhile, Anwar Hassan Neamat, a public prosecutor appointed to the Presidency of Public Prosecution at the HQ of the Judicial Authority in Baghdad, Iraq, initially spoke about the laws on human trafficking and people smuggling in Iraq and her work in this area and concluded outlining her experience as a female leader in a very challenging environment.
Over the two days, 45 (38 female/7 male) network members participated in the workshop. The fourth and final workshop in this series will take place on 29 and 30 June 2021.
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.
This project is funded by the European Union.
To find out more about the Women’s Network, please check: