Inter-ministerial Committee focuses on sustainable financing to counter trafficking in persons in Malawi
The Chairperson of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Trafficking in Persons in Malawi, Mr. Samuel Madula, has advised members of the Committee to adopt sustainable financing strategies to counter the phenomenon during the 2019/2020 financial year. The meeting endorsed the proposal from the Ministry of Homeland Security to develop a Resource Mobilization Strategy of internal resources, with UNODC's technical support.
He said that very few deliverables had been achieved based on funding and technical support received from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) since Malawi adopted the National Plan of Action against Trafficking in Person in 2017.
The chairperson was speaking at the opening of the 3 rd meeting of the National Coordination Committee against Trafficking in Persons (NCC ATIP) financially supported by UNODC on 3 September 2019 in Lilongwe, Malawi.
He said there were several outstanding outcomes, including:
He expressed gratitude for collaboration between the Government and various local and international stakeholders, in particular UNODC, for continued technical and financial support to the Ministry.
The Government of Malawi enacted the Trafficking in Persons Act of 2015 which has provisions on how to systematically deal with the situation.
Mr. Madula said combating trafficking in persons requires concerted efforts of various departments of different disciplines and stakeholders. The committee was established to ensure high-level policy direction to achieve best results.
During the 2018/2019 financial year, the Committee registered significant strides in responding to trafficking in persons. These include but are not limited to training of judicial, protection and enforcement officers, training on trafficking data collection and management and development of regulations and Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs). Additionally, sensitization workshops on trafficking in persons for community leaders, religious leaders, CSOs and faith-based organizations in Mchinji, Dedza and Machinga were held.
UNODC carries out anti-trafficking work in Malawi under project "Strengthening the implementation of a comprehensive response to trafficking in persons in Malawi", in collaboration with the Government of Malawi and with the financial support of the United Kingdom. Implemented as part of the UNODC Global Programme against Trafficking in Persons, jointly with the UNODC Regional Office for Southern Africa, this project contributes to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and in particular SDG 16 on Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.