USAID Central Asia Exposure features: “USAID Reaches Over a Million People Through Anti-Trafficking Campaign in Uzbekistan”
The USAID Safe Migration in Central Asia (SMICA) activity’s innovative work raising awareness across Uzbekistan about human trafficking and ways to prevent it was featured on USAID’s Central Asia Exposure page, posted on August 10, 2021.
“USAID Reaches Over a Million People Through Anti-Trafficking Campaign in Uzbekistan” tells the story of how SMICA, implemented by Winrock International in cooperation with the Government of Uzbekistan, civil society and private organizations, helped to successfully promote World Day Against Trafficking in Persons (WDATIP) 2021, which was observed internationally on July 30th.
The Exposure story notes that SMICA partnered with the Government of Uzbekistan and other organizations including the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the International Labour Organization earlier in July to launch a 30-day campaign to share information on safe migration, resources, and where people can access services and find solutions.
Working with partners, SMICA disseminated information about human trafficking, including hotline numbers for victims of human trafficking across Uzbekistan, and developed a Telegram “chatbot” enabling virtual information sharing about migration and human trafficking that has already been viewed more than 300,000 times. Through the bot, migrant laborers learn about the rules of work and residence abroad, their rights and obligations, as well support and services available to them.
“Most reactions from locals were positive. People wanted to know more. They kindly asked us to do more public awareness activities,” said one volunteer who distributed pamphlets in buses and answered passengers’ questions during the campaign.
To read the full story, click here.