Project Title: Combatting Human Trafficking and Protecting the Rights of Children Migrants and Women Victims through Community Engagement Action in Sierra Leone

Project location: Western Area, Pujehun, Kono, Koinadugu, Kailahun, Kenema, and Kambia District

Organization: Advocacy Movement Network (AMNet)

Budget: 98,998 EUR.

The grant agreement was signed on 1in 01 January 2019 with Advocacy Movement Network (AMNet). The overall objective of the project is to stop irregular transnational migrations of trafficked children, children on the move and adults trafficked from Sierra Leone through ECOWAS countries to the Middle East. The NGO introduced the project to key national stakeholders including the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs (MSWGCA) and Transnational Organized Crime Unit (TOCU) at a one-on-one institutional visitation to the respective offices. The NGO introduced the project to the National TIP Task Force and agreed to be part of the Project Steering Committee through one of the monthly meetings organized by the MSWGCA. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the project was developed. Follow-up consultative meetings held with the MSWGCA for the formal launch of the project involving relevant government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) and national civil society organizations (CSOs). The project also developed draft concept note on capacity building. A baseline study was conducted to gather information on trafficking in persons across the seven targeted districts of operations was completed in Sierra Leone ( 160: Report of the Baseline Assessment).

Awareness raising through sensitization (radio jingles, radio discussions, Town Hall meetings and screening of videos) were conducted. Following the development of jingles and during the current reporting period, there was active engagement of national and district radio stations in the broadcast of anti-TIP jingle messages across the seven districts. Jingles were aired at national radio broadcast and TV panel discussions were facilitated by the project.

Trainings for Magistrates, lawyers, Sierra Leone members of parliament and stakeholders were conducted to create a better understanding of the concept of Trafficking in Persons (TIP) and its related regulations as a means to ensuring positive and proactive support to ending TIP through speedy judicial processes in reporting and prosecution of perpetrators. The training was facilitated in collaboration with National TIP Task Force hosted by the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs. A total of 35 participants from the three professional categories were trained attracting Senior Magistrates, the Director of Public Prosecution of the Law Officers’ Department (LOD), Heads of Parliamentary Committees - Social Welfare, Legislative and Human Rights and other parliamentarians representing the Clerk of Parliament. In her response to interviews by the press and radio media, the Legal Adviser and State Prosecutor disclosed that the training was not only timely but important to them as state prosecutors, pointing out that for the past eight years they have been prosecuting such cases but there had been no conviction of perpetrators of TIP. Underscoring the importance of training she said that such will empower them as prosecutors in order to draft their charges which will them convict perpetrators.

Training was conducted for law enforcement officers with a total of 28 participants from the Office of the National Security (ONS), the Police Family Support Unit (FSU) and the Transnational Organized Crime Unit (TOCU). The objective of the training was to create an understanding and familiarity of the concept of TIP and its related regulations providing them with the relevant knowledge and skills to identify, investigate and apprehend perpetrators and take timely appropriate action.

Rehabilitation of drop-in-centre in Kambia, Sierra Leone was completed for the purpose of providing temporary shelter or safe homes for the protection, security, rehabilitative and reintegration needs of trafficked women and girls.

Main activities of the project:

Assessment of the situation of Transnational and cross-border trafficking in Sierra Leone by Statistics Sierra Leone;
Capacity building of law enforcement officers and Police Family Support Unit (FSU);
Training of Magistrate, Prosecutors and parliamentarians on Transnational Issues;
Training of Labour Inspectors and Social Workers to coordinate, monitor and report on cross-border and transnational trafficking in person of children and adults;
Training of local authorities local Councils and District Task Force against Trafficking in person to coordinate and harmonies activities;
Training of MATIP network and community (media) personnel;
Training of school pupils on their roles in preventing and reporting transnational and cross-border of children and adult women;
Rehabilitation of temporary center;
Provide support to the ministry of Social Welfare to coordinate half yearly experience sharing session;
Promote arts, essay competition, debates and short plays in schools;
Town hall meetings and screening of short videos on TIP;
Promoting partnership at national and local levels;
Conduct Television discussion programs;
Development of jingles in 6 local languages

Benin	The Gambia	Liberia	Senegal	Cabo Verde
Burkina Faso	Guinea Bissau	Sierra Leone	Mali	Guinea
Togo	Niger	Ghana	Cote D’Ivoire	Nigeria