By Sariba Manneh
The National Agency Against Trafficking-In-Persons (NAATIP), a leading agency mandated to prevent, protect and prosecute issues related to trafficking-in persons in The Gambia, last Thursday convened a day’s awareness session targeting personnel of the peace keeping mission on issues surrounding TIP and the National Referral Mechanism (NRM).
The session, which was held at the National Nutrition Agency (NaNA) hall, forms part of the agency’s plans to strengthen the capacity of institutions on the subject supra and to be able to recognise issues relating to trafficking in persons in the country. The agency believes that the fight against this menace is a priority of the Government and as such, it has committed resources in this regard and is ever ready to continue the advocacy and ensure perpetrators are prosecuted.
Welcoming the gathering, Isatou Dabo, executive director of NAATIP, recalled that in the past, the agency had organised series of trainings targeting law enforcement officers and other partners who deal with trafficking in persons. She, however, acknowledged the day’s training is different in the sense that the constitution of peace keeping mission personnel in the country is a mix of individuals who care about victims of trafficking among others.
“It is not very common for you to come across organisations, security organisations or even institutions that have huge number of its members involved in the fight against trafficking in persons,” she said.
To this end, she underscored the importance of the training, saying there are a good number of NGOs that fight trafficking, but needed further capacity building in order to help understand the areas in which they operate, and to reinforce the efforts of NAATIP in their broader advocacy against the menace.
Dabo reminded that apart from the capacity building and knowledge enhancement, participants will be equipped with requisite knowledge to ensure a smooth National Referrals Mechanism.
She spoke highly of the importance of the event and the need for people to use NRM in dealing with cases of human trafficking. She disclosed that the session is part of their effort to ensure participants understand the elements of Trafficking-In-Persons, the type of services available for victims of trafficking, as well as victim identification, among a host of others. She equally challenged participants to be instrumental in the fight against human trafficking, so as to make the country a safe haven for all.
The event also saw detailed presentation on the role and mandate of the agency by Isatou Dabo, as well as other resource persons at the event.
