The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has pledged continuous support for the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) to curb human trafficking.
Mr Azim Arshad, UNODC project coordinator in Nigeria, gave the pledge on Monday in Abuja at the start of a three-day stakeholders’ workshop on the development of a new national plan against human trafficking.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the new national plan of action against human trafficking is a five-year plan – 2021 to 2025, aimed tackling the menace.
According to Arshad, UNODC has been working with NAPTIP in the areas of prevention, prosecution, protection, partnership and policy and will continue to engage with the agency in the five-year plan strategies.
He commended NAPTIP for coordinating the fight against human trafficking and setting the roadmap to develop the new national plan against the menace even in the face of COVID-19.
“We welcome the progress made in the development of the new national plan of action; the objective of this technical meeting is to build the structure of future actions under different strategic goals, defining the roles and responsibilities of various partners.
“UNODC will continue to provide the necessary technical assistance to NAPTIP and other partners in structuring and drafting the action plan,’’ Arshad said.
In his remarks, Mr Manuel Muhlebach, Migration Officer, Switzerland Embassy in Nigeria, said the embassy would support efforts to implement the new national plan of action.
Muhlebach also pledged support for NAPTIP to achieve the desired result.
In another contribution, Mr Olubiyi Olusayo, NAPTIP Director in charge of Training and Manpower Development, who represented the Director-General, Mrs Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, thanked the stakeholders for their efforts in the fight against human trafficking.
Olusayo said that NAPTIP would continue to do its best to end the menace and added that the workshop, a continuation of the first phase which held in November 2020.was to make consultations in the development of the new national plan.
H said also that it was aimed at expanding and enriching the draft document of action against human trafficking. (NAN)
