By Kortu Nyandibo |
The Program Officer of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Mr. Tamba Siaffa has praised the Minister of Labour and Chairman of the National Anti-Human Trafficking Taskforce of Liberia, Hon. Moses Y. Kollie for accelerating paves to combat Trafficking in persons in the country.
Mr. Siaffa said that the uninterrupted holding of Taskforce meetings under the watch of Minister Kollie indicates the importance the Government of Liberia through the Taskforce attaches to the fight against TIP and hope that such action on the part of the government will continue as way of helping to make the fight a good want.
He added that the IOM has been a partner to the TIP Secretariat in Liberia in many ways, but noted that there is a need to do more.
The IOM staff was speaking at the ongoing a four-day Step Down Training for National Trafficking in Persons Focal Points (NFPs) at the Boulevard Palace, Monrovia.
Mr. Siaffa told participants that trafficking in persons are on the increase, especially in the West Africa area, noting that as the economic conditions in many countries continue deteriorate, young girls and boys are on the move to seek greener pasture in European Countries.
“Traffickers are using these situations to exploit our young people in the region. I was fortunate to visit a trafficking camp in Niger and if you see the ages of victims that are moving, you will know that people took advantage of them knowingly and unknowingly thereby putting them in harmful conditions.”
He said that as a result, the EU and other partners have contracted the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to assist implement programs in various West Africa Countries including Liberia to prevent or reduce the movement of people, especially young girls and boys. In this light, he said that IOM is working with partners in West Africa including National Anti-Human Trafficking Taskforce of Liberia as part of its component in the fight against TIP.
He appreciated ILO for organizing the workshop through the FMM West Africa project and attested that the collaboration between the two agencies has been strengthened through the FMM West Africa Project.
The objectives of the training are: Enhance participants’ understanding of the current trends in the areas of Trafficking in persons (TIP), Forced Labor, Child Labor and labour Migration; Share best practices in the elimination of Trafficking in persons (TIP), Forced Labour, and Child Labour; and Sensitize participants on Alliance 8.7. and discuss on how to establish/ strengthen its coordination.
Speaking onbehalf of the ILO Country Director, Mr. Dennis Zulu, National Prgramme Officer, ILO/FMM West Africa Project, Dr. Agatha Kolawole said that Liberia is among four countries in West Africa that were selected to benefit from this Step Down Training of TIP National Focal points.
She said that Liberia was selected because of the request sent to the ILO and also that the country has earlier submitted a need for training the Demand Driven Fund of the FMM project. She noted that this training is basically aimed at building the capacity of NFPs in the five thematic areas and also to strengthen coordination in the combat of TIP, Child labour and Forced labour at the national level. She noted that these are major gaps in most ECOWAS Countries and stressed the need for more coordination in order to achieve these objectives.
She named the five (5) thematic modules (Understanding the issues, Preventing Trafficking and Exploitation, Protecting People at Risk, Protecting People in the Workplace and Matters of Process).
She told participants that a blended training programme was developed by the Project in partnership with the ITC-ILO to enhance NFPs ability to deliver national level trainings targeting multiple stakeholders in the ECOWAS region. The blended training consists of an online course and a face to face workshop.
The workshop is implemented by the ILO and sponsored by the European Union in collaboration with ECOWAS within the framework of the Support to Free Movement of Persons and Migration in West Africa Project.
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