Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, 19 March 2025 – Turkmenistan presented the new National Action Plan on Combatting Trafficking in Persons (CTIP NAP) for 2025–2029 at a recent briefing organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan. The new CTIP NAP has been developed with the support of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Turkmenistan and endorsed by the presidential decree in January 2025.
The event was attended online and in-person by the representatives of the government entities comprising the Interdepartmental Commission on Combating Human Trafficking, senior leadership of IOM and UNODC, representatives of international organizations as well as diplomatic missions accredited in Turkmenistan. The new CTIP NAP was presented by the Prosecutor General of Turkmenistan who emphasized the importance of the coordinated effort to combat human trafficking and protect the most vulnerable populations, including migrants and victims of human trafficking.
Speaking at the briefing, the IOM Coordinator for Central Asia Mr. Serhan Aktoprak emphasized Turkmenistan’s commitment to preventing irregular migration and human trafficking, addressing multiple vulnerabilities of irregular migrants and victims of human trafficking in line with the principle of “leave no one behind”. He noted IOM’s long-standing partnership with Turkmenistan in building up national expertise and capacities for identification, protection and rehabilitation of victims of human trafficking in line with Turkmenistan’s national human rights obligations and commitments under the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration.
He thanked national stakeholders that were engaged in the process of drafting the new CTIP NAP for their efficient work and acknowledged the partnership and collaboration of UNODC in Turkmenistan whose contribution to the development of new CTIP NAP was highly valuable. Mr. Serhan Aktoprak assured all relevant stakeholders of IOM’s continued commitment to supporting the implementation of the new CTIP NAP and establishing effective cooperation between Turkmenistan and countries of transit and destination for better identification, referral, repatriation, rehabilitation and reintegration of victims of trafficking, as well as investigation and prosecution of trafficking related offences as mentioned in the new CTIP NAP.
The new CTIP NAP is guided by a survivor-centered approach and inclusive of specific actions in response to emerging trends and challenges in combating human trafficking. In line with this approach, the new CTIP NAP provides for strengthening gender and age sensitive identification, repatriation, referral, rehabilitation and reintegration of victims of trafficking and their families; improvement of the National Referral Mechanism, taking into account the special needs of women and youth; strengthening the capacity of relevant national authorities to uphold the rights and compensate victims of trafficking; improving knowledge and capacity of front-line professionals and ensuring timely provision of rehabilitation services and reintegration support for victims of trafficking; enhancing provision of information and education and raising awareness among the population, including children and youth, about the dangers and consequences of trafficking, the rights of victims of trafficking and new forms of trafficking.
The briefing concluded with the exchange of views on the practical implementation of the new CTIP NAP, highlighting the importance of collaboration between national stakeholders, international organizations and national NGOs to address human trafficking comprehensively.
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IOM supported the development of the new CTIP NAP for 2025-2029 as part of the project “Strengthening the national legal framework on trafficking in persons to better address the needs of youth and women, through a survivor-centered approach” funded by the IOM Development Fund (IOMDF). The development of the new CTIP NAP was guided by the findings and recommendations of a comprehensive assessment of Turkmenistan’s existing national legal and regulatory framework on CTIP against international standards and best practices, conducted by IOM international experts. These recommendations were shared with the Mejlis of Turkmenistan for consideration.
Prevention of irregular migration and human trafficking has been one of the key areas of IOM work in Turkmenistan since 1997. As part of this work, IOM operates a “shelter” service to victims of human trafficking and two “hot lines” in Ashgabat and Turkmenabat through national CSOs and provides reintegration support to returning Turkmen migrants who found themselves in vulnerable situation abroad or fell victim to human trafficking with financial contributions from the Government of Norway and IOM’s Development Fund. Since 2005 IOM helped more than 550 Turkmen nationals who benefited from rehabilitation and return & reintegration assistance.
Two previous National Action Plans of Turkmenistan on Combatting Trafficking in Persons (2016-2018, 2020-2022) were developed and implemented with the support of IOM in Turkmenistan. ///IOM in Turkmenistan