By Linus Aleke, Abuja
A consortium of no fewer than 25 civil society organisations under the umbrella of the Network Against Child Trafficking, Abuse, and Child Labour (NACTAL), has applauded the Federal Government for approving the National Action Plan on Human Trafficking as a roadmap to combat the crime in Nigeria.
The consortium also noted that the National Action Plan as designed speaks to Nigeria’s current Trafficking in Persons challenges, hence its decision to effectively review its strategic plan and aligned same with the National Action Plan.
In a communique issued after its 3-day workshop on realigning the 4 years NACTAL strategic plan (2020 -2024) with the Nigeria government’s National Action Plan on Human Trafficking (2022-2026), and signed by NACTAL National Secretary, and Chairperson, Communique Committee
North-Central Zonal Coordinator, Mr Ositadimma Samuel Osemene and Mrs Imabong Sanusi, the consortium implored all state and non-state actors to ensure all their interventions are tailored towards achieving the content of the NAP.
The group further admonished donor agencies to support the implementation of the NAP as a veritable tool to combatting the menace of human trafficking in Nigeria.
It called on all member organisations of NACTAL to adopt the newly reviewed Strategic Plan and implement their activities accordingly nationwide.
Other recommendations advised that donors and government collaborators should be solicited to enhance the capacity of NACTAL members for effective implementation of counter-trafficking activities contained in the strategic plan.
Participants at the workshop were also unanimous in commending the existing cordial relationship between the leadership of NAPTIP and NACTAL and called for sustenance of the relationship to engender effective support to victims of human trafficking.
In conclusion, the consortium concluded that the technical sessions dwelled on seven thematic areas, which included but not limited to prevention; protection & assistance research and assessment prosecution, law enforcement and access to justice gender equality & social inclusion on TIP monitoring and evaluation, data management and statistics partnership and coordination.
