IOM, Social Welfare Ministry to End Human Trafficking
The IOM Sierra Leone, together with the Ministry of Social Welfare Government of Sierra Leone, Anti-Trafficking in Persons Task Force Secretariat-Sierra Leone, has organized a one-day community stakeholder on awareness raising session in the Western Area Rural District.
The one-day community stakeholder awareness-raising session took place on Friday, August 23, 2024, at the Western Area Rural District Council Hall in Waterloo.
Welcoming stakeholders to the session, the Deputy Chairman of WARD-C, Robert Brown, described the day as one of his best, recounting that when he left the university some years ago, his first advocacy was on human trafficking with World Hope International. The deputy chair of WARD-C said that championing the fight to end human trafficking not just in the Western Area Rural District but the country as a whole meant a lot to him and the council. He said that gone are the days of slavery when people lost their dignity, adding that in modern times, slavery must not have a place in the world. Mr. Brown said that the leadership of WARD-C takes the issue of trafficking seriously and that they are doing all they can to join hands to end it. He praised the efforts of the IOM, the Ministry of Social Welfare, and the Anti-Trafficking Secretariat for putting awareness-raising at the centre of the fight, adding that it is only a well-informed society that will take the necessary action.
Representing the Ministry of Social Welfare, Deputy Director Hawanatu Koloneh Koroma explained the mandate of her ministry, which she said seeks to empower and transform the lives of vulnerable and less privileged persons, families, and groups, including young people, women, children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities. Madam Hawanatu said that trafficking falls under their mandate to deal with vulnerable groups as well as provide, through the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Task Force Secretariat, social amenities and economic alternatives for victims of human trafficking.
The deputy director also spoke about her ministry’s five-year strategic plan, which aims at enhancing service delivery across all mandate areas with a particular focus on ensuring inclusivity for vulnerable groups. She said that the plan serves as a framework guiding both the ministry and stakeholders in planning and investing in the social sector, aligning efforts with the President’s Big Five Game Changers to address critical issues such as trafficking in persons.
On his own part, the Director of Public Prevention and Public Education at ATIPS, Albert Sheriff, appreciated the stakeholders present for making it a point of duty to attend such an important session, which he said proved how important they took the issue. Director Albert George Sheriff informed the gathering that the community engagement was an extension of the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons commemoration, which took place on the 30th of July this year, adding that it is also embedded in the recently launched National Action Plan Against Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Girls 2024-2028.
“𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗼𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀,” 𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱.
Director Albert George Sheriff continued that they have selected Waterloo because it has become a hot spot for trafficking people. He informed the gathering that similar engagements will also be replicated in other hotspot communities in the coming weeks, as well as targeting various schools with the intention of setting up school clubs. He said that the expectation with these engagements is to increase awareness among the public to detect and report suspected human trafficking situations. He implored the stakeholders to not just keep the information they have received to themselves but also cascade it to their community members so that they will be in a better position to be vigilant.
Director of Protection Sama Banya spoke about the secretariat’s protection mechanism and response to issues relating to trafficking in persons. Mr. Banya informed the gathering that, from the data, women and children are the most vulnerable, but a good number of men and boys have also been trafficked. He spoke about the standard operating procedure within the national referral mechanism that shapes the cooperation framework for supporting victims of trafficking. He also explained how they have been patterning with other individuals and institutions in tip institutions in responding swiftly to the issue.
The National Project Officer, who also doubles as the focal person for the Africa Regional Migration Project, which is the project supporting the awareness-raising session, Mangeh Sesay, said that they were happy to work with the government of Sierra Leone on national development issues, with trafficking not being an exception. Mr. Sesay said that, as part of all that the various speakers said, it was also important to note that people should be aware of the law that fights against trafficking in persons, which is the Anti-Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Act of 2022.
Mr. Mangeh Sesay said that the 2022 Act prohibits human trafficking and migrant smuggling and ensures these crimes are investigated, offenders prosecuted, and victims supported. He said that many of the cases relating to trafficking in persons in Sierra Leone emanate from Waterloo, emphasising that community leaders needed to step up and take necessary action. Mr. Sesay recounted that Waterloo was a small community occupied by the Creoles in the past, but over the years and due to urbanisation, it became a cosmopolitan area. He said that traffickers have made inroads into the Waterloo community, thereby taking advantage of vulnerable populations. He said that one way they could help these vulnerable groups survive the advances of the traffickers is to empower key stakeholders with the necessary information, which they will in turn use to engage their various constituents.
Representatives from the Transnational Organised Crime Unit TOCU, Family Support Unit FSU, Community Relations of the Sierra Leone Police, the Military, Youth Groups, Market Women Associations, Mammy Queens, Chiefs, Inter-Religious Council, and other stakeholders shared their experiences with cases of trafficking they have dealt with and actions taken to serve as deterrents. They also promised to do more by networking with other stakeholders, assuring that there was no better time to take action than now.
Video screening was also part of the awareness-raising session that showed the various forms of human trafficking, such as forced labour, sex trafficking, informal fostering known as the’men pikin’, internet trafficking, and trafficking of the disabled. The community stakeholder awareness-raising session is a framework of the Africa Regional Migration Project, funded by the US Bureau for Population Refugees and Migration.
