The U.S. Embassy, the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the anti-trafficking NGO Istiqbolli Avlod jointly facilitated a seminar August 18-21 in Tashkent on combating trafficking in persons (TIP). This seminar, the second in a multi-part series, exposed participants to a variety of mechanisms to combat human trafficking and promoted greater public-private partnership in this area in Uzbekistan.
The event brought together more than 200 participants from Tashkent and the Tashkent region, including representatives from municipal, regional and district-level Interagency Committees for Combating Human Trafficking, criminal investigators, prosecutors, and journalists.
During the three-day event, representatives from the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Women’s Committee and “Mahalla” (Neighborhood) Fund offered presentations that detailed the legal and regulatory efforts the Government of Uzbekistan has taken to end human trafficking. Istiqbolli Avlod detailed the types of social, legal and psychological assistance it provides to victims in Uzbekistan. Embassy Tashkent reviewed the United States’ experience in combatting TIP, underscoring the importance of developing and maintaining strong collaboration between government and civil society entities as well as utilizing a survivor-centered, individualized case-based approach to providing services to victims.
The Embassy, using funds from the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, will continue to support government agencies and NGOs in Uzbekistan in their efforts to prevent human trafficking and to provide rehabilitative services to victims.
