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UNODC Strengthening Capacity in Somalia to Counter Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants 

Mogadishu (Somalia), 23 September – UNODC has been supporting the Federal Government of Somalia and Federal Member States to strengthen their capacity to effectively respond to cases of Trafficking in Persons (TIP) and Smuggling of Migrants (SOM) within the framework of its regional Countering Transnational Organized Crime and Illicit Trafficking Programme and as part of the Better Migration Management (BMM) programme,co-funded by the European Union (EU) Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF)and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Recent BMM programme activities include the handover of equipment as well as various capacity building activities.

In completing phase 1 of the BMM programme, UNODC recently donated vehicles and office equipment, including computer workstations and accessories, smartphone devices, printers and scanners for the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Units of the Somali Police Force (SPF) in Mogadishu, Garowe (Puntland) and Baidoa (South West State).

As part of the current phase of the BMM programme, UNODC presented a 4-day training workshop in June for 8 prosecutors on Prosecuting Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants, while in August, a 4-day training workshop on International Cooperation in the Investigation and Prosecution of Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants was presented to 8 criminal justice practitioners. 

Both workshops aimed at providing the right tools, resources and knowledge for prosecutors and other criminal justice practitioners to effectively prosecute TIP and SOM, which included enhancing practical knowledge and skills to drafting of outgoing requests for mutual legal assistance and extradition, but also supporting and responding to incoming requests for mutual legal assistance and extradition.

Furthermore, at the end of August, UNODC presented a 5-day training workshop on Preventing and Countering Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants for representatives from different government departments, including the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MOLSA) and the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), together with representatives from the law departments at Mogadishu University and City University, as well as representatives from Badbaado Legal and Consultancy Center, a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Mogadishu. The aim of the workshop was to enhance knowledge on the definitions of, and differences between TIP and SOM; and sharing of knowledge on methods to prevent and counter TIP and SOM in Somalia, including on how NGOs can play an important role.

Other recent UNODC BMM programme support includes a first-of-its-kind 2-day inter-regional workshop on Combatting TIP by Air, which brought together Member States from Eastern Africa, the Middle East, and Gulf States, together with representatives from Emirates Airline, and experts from UNODC and INTERPOL, co-funded via the BMM programme, the Airport Communication Project (AIRCOP), and the Global Action against Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants – Asia and the Middle East (GLO.ACT).

See UNODC’s Strategic Vision for Africa 2030 here.

For more information, please contact: 

Mr. Johan Kruger – johan.kruger@un.org
Head of Transnational Organized Crime, Illicit Trafficking and Terrorism Programmes,
UNODC Regional Office for Eastern Africa