OSCE trains diplomatic personnel to identify, assist and protect victims of human trafficking

TASHKENT, 19 September 2013 - A two-day training course for diplomatic and consular staff of the Uzbek Foreign Ministry started in Tashkent today focusing on quick and accurate identification of human trafficking victims.

The event is being organized by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan together with the Uzbek Foreign Ministry. It brings together 20 Uzbek consular officials based in Russia, Ukraine, Indonesia, Malaysia and other countries that are human trafficking destination points, as well as consular personnel of the Uzbek Foreign Ministry from Tashkent and experts from the OSCE Secretariat, Austrian and Latvian Foreign Ministries, Israel, Georgia and Moldova. Representatives of the State Anti-trafficking Commission and NGOs will also take part.

"Early identification of trafficking victims is crucial for preventing and combating the crime, and we are attaching special importance to training public servants who might be first to encounter victims of trafficking and who can assist them at the earliest possible stage,” said Ambassador György Szabo, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan.

The project is funded by the United States.