Niamey, Zinder 04 October 2020 – UNODC, under the framework of the Global Action to address Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants (GLO.ACT-Niger) and the PROMIS project – a joint initiative with OHCHR funded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Republic of Italy to ensure a human rights-based response to smuggling of migrants –, accompanied the National Agency for the Fight against Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants (ANLTP/TIM) in the organization and celebration of the National Mobilization Day against Trafficking in Persons (TIP) and Slavery.
The celebration of the National Mobilization Day against TIP was instituted by Decree No. 2015-182/PRN/MJ of 10 April 2015, amended, and supplemented by Decree No. 2020-736/PRN/MJ of 25 September 2020 instituting the National Day of Mobilization against Trafficking in Persons and Slavery. The event is celebrated every year on 28 September and the commemoration aims to:
It is in this context that UNODC accompanied the National Agency for the Fight against Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants (ANLTP/TIM) in the organization and celebration of this year edition, which took place on 28 September 2021 at Ecole National de Santé Publique (ENSP) in the city of Zinder.
The ceremony was opened by the Director General of ANLTP/TIM Ousmane Mamane, who welcomed the participants, thanked all the partners for their continuous support and highlighted the importance of gathering all together to celebrate this important day and further sensitize on TIP and all other forms of exploitation and slavery that seriously undermine human rights. The floor was then given to the Secretary General of the Nigerien Ministry of Justice, Moumouni HAMIDOU, and to the representatives of the different technical and financial partners involved. The President of the National Agency against TIP of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cécile Rebecca Meta Kasanda attended the event, and her participation demonstrated the good level of collaboration that the two countries have in addressing trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants.
UNODC supported the organization and visibility of the event and delivered the one conference on the Assessment of the implementation of Ordinance 2010-86 of 16 December 2010 on the fight against trafficking in persons in Niger. The event was attended by approximately 200 people.
Prior to the event, several sensitization sessions for local communities were delivered both through a mobile caravan in villages located at the border with Nigeria. Furthermore, a sensitization session on the risks related to trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants was also organized with the support of UNODC, IOM and ICMPD on 27 September 2021 in the KaraKara neighbourhood in the city of Zinder, touching almost 300 people, of which more than half were women and children.
The commemoration of the National Day against TIP offered ANLTP/TIM and its technical partners the opportunity to continue to advocate with state authorities and donors for a more efficient response against TIP, to undertake awareness-raising activities among the population and to promote the dissemination of texts and statistical data on human trafficking and slavery in Niger. ANLTP/TIM and UNODC were very delighted with the positive engagement of all relevant stakeholders and their active participation in the discussions and debates.
The Global Action against Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants – Niger (GLO.ACT-Niger) is a two-year (2019 - 2021), € 500.000 joint initiative by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MFA) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). An earlier phase of this project (2015-2019) was supported by the European Union.
The project builds on a global community of practice set in motion in GLO.ACT 2015-2019 and assists the Government of Niger in targeted, innovative and demand-driven interventions: sustaining effective strategy and policy development, strengthening the criminal justice response, and regional and trans-regional cooperation.
This project is funded by the Government of Italy.