Country Capacity Assessment on Trafficking in Persons: Marshall Islands

Funded by New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), the project "Labour Standards on Fishing Vessels” aims to support Pacific Island Countries (PICs) to address the issue of poor working conditions, labour rights violations and human trafficking on fishing vessels in the Pacific, and to contribute to making employment on fishing vessels in the region safe, decent and worthwhile.

In order to holistically assess the capacity of Pacific Island Countries to prevent and respond to instances of trafficking in persons, including in the context of the fishing industry, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), in coordination with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), developed a comprehensive standardized assessment tool under this programming, which considers the following five thematic areas related to trafficking in persons: 1) Legislation and policy; 2) Coordination and partnerships; 3) Prevention; 4) Protection; and 5) Prosecution. Results of the assessment will guide and inform IOM and UNODC’s technical assistance and capacity-building interventions under the project "Labour Standards on Fishing Vessels”.

This report was made possible with funding support from New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) under the project “Labour Standards on Fishing Vessels”. The report was informed by primary data collection undertaken in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), as well as technical inputs provided by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).