Prime
Tanzania government, NGOs team up to fight human trafficking
What you need to know:
The areas where collective power is most needed are in providing education to the public and determining cross-cutting factors that shape and stimulate illegal human trafficking.
Dar es Salaam. The government and a group of organisations that have been fighting against human trafficking will now operate under one umbrella to intensify efforts to curb the nuisance.
The Tanzania Network against Human Trafficking (TANAHUT) was registered in March this year, and the unveiling event on Thursday coincided with the commemoration of the World Day against Trafficking in Persons, which will globally be observed tomorrow.
The network's chairperson, Mr Edwin Mugambila noted that the situation of human trafficking was alarming in sub-Saharan Africa, East Africa as well as Tanzania, especially domestic trafficking.
"Unfortunately, domestic trafficking is not as well known as international trafficking." People do not realize that deceiving girls from villages with job opportunities and making them work in dangerous areas is against the law," he said.
He said that the basis for the establishment of the network made up of civil institutions, NGOs, religious institutions, international organizations and institutions of higher education was to unite efforts to fight against human trafficking.
The areas where that collective power is most needed is in providing education to the public, determining cross-cutting factors that shape and stimulate illegal human trafficking, and supporting the government's efforts in reviewing laws and policies to make them effective.
"We will also conduct capacity building for law enforcement units such as the police, courts and prosecutors and all the parties involved so that together we can understand this alarming challenge," he noted.
Mr Mugambila said that in collaboration with the government, they have been able to successfully influence the amendment of some of the provisions of the Anti-trafficking Act of 2008. "So the remaining aspect now is to manage it and this is one of the roles of the network we have launched today."
The Secretary of the Anti-trafficking in Persons Secretariat in the ministry of Home Affairs, Mr Seperatus Fella, said the network will help in plugging existing loopholes as part of the wider efforts to combat human trafficking.
"The situation is not good even though we have continued to take action against those involved and the existence of this strategy will help us get more accurate research information and further improve this endeavour."
Mr Fella noted that for a long time there has been poor coordination as each stakeholder was working in isolation even though the government was often involved.
"The fight against human trafficking is not easy, it requires us to work together in compliance with the law. Let's join forces so that we can save the lives of many victims."
Ms Lydia Augustino, executive director of the Organization for Child, Youth and Women Empowerment Support in Kahama, Shinyanga Region said the problem was big in her region.
"The situation is bad in our area, which is often the epicenter for transportation of children to big cities. Extra effort is needed to deal with the criminals," she reiterated.
