GLO.ACT provides Women’s Network members with soft-skill training to maximize their impact in countering human trafficking and migrant smuggling

Vienna, Austria – 26 May 2022 –To continue to strengthen the resilience of members of the GLO.ACT Women's Network, GLO.ACT ran a workshop on work-life balance on 24 May 2022, featuring an exciting panel of women representatives from GLO.ACT countries. Panellists shared their insights on how to best manage the work-life balance, offering tips and advice on the common challenges highlighted throughout the session. The topic was chosen by network members as a priority issue as part of the workshop series on personal & professional development, in line with the Network's Advisory Board Roadmap to Action for 2022.

A pre-workshop survey completed by participants revealed that 80 per cent of the participants have disregarded personal commitments due to work, 45 per cent work beyond their allocated working hours, and 55 per cent think or worry about work outside of their workplace. Considering gender regarding work-life balance, 52 per cent of women and 48 per cent of men reported feeling stressed at work because of caregiving obligations. Further highlighting the need to address the imbalances, only 18 per cent of participants said that they successfully managed to set boundaries between their work and life.

The workshop was opened by Huma Chughtai, Vice-Chair of the GLO.ACT Women's Network Advisory Board. Ms Chughtai pointed out that work-life balance challenges can be one factor that contributes to women leaving their roles within the criminal justice sector. She explained that the GLO.ACT Women's Network provides members with tools to achieve career goals while being equipped with strategies to maximize their impact in countering human trafficking and migrant smuggling.

The interactive session was moderated by Martina Darnell, UNODC, Coach and Training Facilitator, Talent Development Team, Human Resources Management Services, UNOV. Ms Darnell started the session by providing overall introduction on the issue of Work-Life balance, focusing in particular on work-life integration. The workshop included insights from the panellists into the challenges, solutions and key steps that can be taken to achieve the right work-life balance and how to go about promoting it in the workplace.

The panellists included:

• Dr Khanzad, General Secretary of the Higher Council on Women's Affairs, the Kurdish Region of Iraq (KRI). Dr Khanzad outlined the need to acknowledge the pressures women face in achieving work-life balance and provided insights into how she has tried to navigate these throughout her career.
• Afshan Tehseen, Chairperson for the National Commission on the Right of the Child in Pakistan, delivered a presentation on recognizing the imbalances between work and life and achieving work-life balance at your workplace and underlined the importance of physical and mental wellbeing.
• Lt Colonel/ Dr Amna Mohammed Al Belooshi, President of the Emirates Women Police Association, underlined the importance of prioritizing your personal life and knowing how to manage your time efficiently to do so. Dr Al Belooshi said,” It's impossible to give every area of our life equal attention. First, we need to know why it is important to have life balance. Work-life Balance means less stress, improved mental health, better physical health, and increased creative thinking. This will bring happiness and fulfilment”.

Following the panellists' remarks, a group discussion via breakout rooms was divided into Arabic, English, Farsi and Kurdish speakers. Each group exchanged views on the most common work-life balance challenges, the main takeaways from the session, and actions that each participant felt they could implement immediately in their daily lives. Each group reported back to the main session after the discussions finished.

Aimée Comrie, GLO.ACT Project Coordinator concluded the workshop by thanking the panellist and pointing out that this workshop had enabled all participants to identify a few actions to work towards better work-life integration.

The workshop will be followed up by a survey, allowing participants to assess the workshop's impact on their future decisions when managing the work-life balance.

44 members of the Women's Network, practitioners from GLO.ACT partner countries and GLO.ACT Team members participated in the event.

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 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.
For more information, please contact:
https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/glo-act2/index.html
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @glo_act
For more information about the GLO.ACT Women's Network:
https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/glo-act5/index.html
For more information about Trafficking in Persons or Smuggling of Migrants:
https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/index.html?ref=menuside