World Day Against Trafficking in Persons Gala
The World Day Against Trafficking in Persons was commemorated on the 30th July globally. UNODC’s Blue Heart Campaign’s theme this year was highlighting the importance of government action.
In Kenya, counter-trafficking stakeholders participated in a gala at the Intercontinental Hotel in Nairobi to mark the occasion. Stop the Traffik- Kenya (STTK) and some of its members - Candle of Hope Foundation, Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW) and Awareness Against Human Trafficking (HAART) coordinated the event.
The dinner brought together representatives from different arms of the government, religious leaders, private sector partners, as well as civil society organizations (CSOs), to discuss and celebrate the work accomplished in the last year, to share key asks for future collaboration under the coalition and encourage further cooperation between the various stakeholders and advocate for additional government support.
The gala dinner included keynotes speeches from the Director of Criminal Investigations Department – George Kinoti, Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) – Noordin Haji, CEO of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) Twalib Mbarak, Wairimu Munyinyi-Wahome- Executive Director (COVAW) and Sophie Otiende- Programme Consultant (HAART).
There was also a panel discussion on improving cooperation among stakeholders that included: Veronica Mwangi- Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), Silke Hampson- BMM Regional Coordinator, Kenya and Somalia, Nicholas Pande- Project Officer, Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA) and Juliet Nyambura- Independent Consultant.
There was agreement among the stakeholders for the need of a multi-sectoral approach to bridge the existing gaps which include: a current gap in the implementation of existing laws and policies, lack of adequate services for supporting victims of trafficking, lack of data on human trafficking to encourage evidence-based practices and a lack of coordination among stakeholders and the government. STTK committed to following up on some of the action points and to also continue to coordinate activities and promote partnerships among stakeholders within the counter-trafficking space in Kenya.
Kenyan Governor signs declaration at Leiden University to protect the rights of children
On 6 September 2019, the Governor of Murang’a County, Mwangi wa Iria, signed a declaration at Leiden University, The Netherlands, in the presence of Prof. Ton Liefaard, UNICEF Chair of Children’s Rights, Prof. Julia Sloth-Nielsen, the former Vice-Chair of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and Stahili Foundation. In this ground-breaking declaration, dubbed the “Leiden Declaration”, the Governor sets out a series of major commitments to protect children, including children who have been trafficked to orphanages, by instituting resourced care reforms as an integral part of priorities in Murang’a County. The Governor's efforts go beyond care reforms and include establishing a children’s office and and an ombudsperson as well as enacting a children’s bill to enhance protection.
The Governor - who is also the Vice-Chair of the national Kenyan Council of Governors - has promised to implement wide-ranging reforms to tackle poverty, family separation and exploitation. A 2017 CNN Freedom Project report on the trafficking of children to orphanages in Murang’a County had a significant impact in bringing the inherent risks of institutionalisation to a wider audience. These concerns led Stahili to actively engage the Governor, who has taken up the issue with vigour and has promised to urge his fellow Governors to implement similar reforms to protect children from neglect, violence, and exploitation.
The Leiden Declaration comes at an important time. This year, the United Nations General Assembly Resolution on the Rights of the Child will focus on children without parental care for the first time. This is an important opportunity to place a vulnerable and usually overlooked population of young people on the global agenda, review progress made in preventing unnecessary family-child separation and providing appropriate family-based alternative care, and recommend specific actions to strengthen care reforms globally (which will also help combat trafficking to and from orphanages). The Governor's Declaration is also particularly timely as 2019 is the tenth anniversary of the UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children and the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
In Malawi, the Ministry of Homeland Security in collaborating with the Malawi Anti Trafficking Network (MNAT) with technical and financial support from UNODC, hosted an event to commemorate World Day Against Anti Trafficking in Persons on 30th July at Capital Hotel, Lilongwe, Malawi.
The Minister of Homeland Security, Mr. Nicholas Dausi, launched the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and National Referral Mechanism (NRM) on Trafficking in Persons. The Minister also launched several other key documents, including; the Witness Protection Regulations, the Regulations on Prevention of Exploitative Labor Recruitment, and the Guidelines for Utilization of the Trafficking in Persons (TiP) Fund.
MNAT has also initiated 140 days campaign to end human trafficking in Malawi by implementing various activities throughout the country. Activities include Youth Mobilization Awareness Campaigns, Private Sector orientations, Public Debates, Media Orientation on TiP and Safe Migration, Schools and Colleges Outreach activities, as well as Local Media Campaigns. The campaigns aim to reach 2.1 Million people from all sectors in Malawi.
Other regional updates
On 5 and 6th August, Liberty Shared, under the Better Migration Management EU funded project, held a workshop titled ‘Improved Case Management, Data Collection and Collaboration’ for regional Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) from Ethiopia, Uganda, and Kenya, in Nairobi. The participants included Case Workers that are currently using the Victim Case Management System, and the purpose of this workshop was to discuss how the CSOs can enhance their case management practices and collect quality data that can inform their respective programming. During the workshop, CSOs also explored Freedom Collaborative to support their collaborative efforts by connecting them to a national, regional and global counter-trafficking community to share information, gain access to various resources, and identify potential key partners for collaboration within their local contexts, as well as internationally.
The Eastern Africa Child Rights Network (EACRN) is a regional network of National Child Rights Coalitions from Eastern African countries. EACRN partnered with Terre des Hommes Netherlands to implement a project named “Development and Integration of Regional Efforts Against Child Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation in Africa.” The project seeks to enhance the protection of children from Child Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children. Despite the existence of various regional policies and mechanism on Child Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, CSOs are currently finding it a challenge to engage effectively with the bodies tasked to enforce these policies and mechanisms, which led to EACRN conducting a capacity building session for CSOs from Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia to identify ways in which CSOs can effectively engage with these mechanisms. The workshop was held from 23-25 July in Nairobi.
During this month, HAART Kenya launched Kitwana's story, which is a short animation video that was developed to create awareness about human trafficking among children. The video is based on a true story of a survivor of trafficking that HAART identified and worked with. The animation video was developed as a tool to accompany HAART's ‘Teacher’s Child Trafficking Manual and Handout’ that targets children between the ages of 7-14 years old. The video was developed by award-winning animator Ng'endo Mukii. The launch took place at PAWA254 and brought together different stakeholders to discuss child trafficking and how to use art to create awareness about human trafficking. The trailer for the video can be found here.
Candle of Hope Foundation in Kenya engaged in prevention and partnership activities in July by establishing new strategic actions plans and calling for better administrative processes. They launched two awareness campaign initiatives and participated in various events that are geared towards collectively combating human trafficking through shared resources. Their July Impact Update can be found here.