Some prominent women are calling on African governments to create polices to help curb the menace of human trafficking at the just ended 2018 African Women Intercultural dialogue held at the National Women Center Abuja.
Participants were drawn from different sector of the society and also from different nations on the continent.
The event organised by All Africa Media Network in collaboration with UN Women Nigeria, UNESCO, International Organisation for Migration -UN Migration Agency, National Agency For Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons( NAPTIP), National Center for Women Development under the theme, “Human Trafficking: Calling African Women, Policy Makers and Influencers To Action Against Cultural Realities Aiding Human Trafficking, Domestic Servitude and Sex Slavery.”
The cultural dialogue allowed multi-modal contributions that reaches out to all interested parties on the issues of human trafficking- to articulate on the complex nature of this problem especially in this era of information overload.
The Former Gambian Vice-President, Hajiya Fatoumata Tambajang Jallow, who led the delegate at the dialogue called for stronger legislation to curtail the menace of human trafficking in Africa.
Mrs. Tambajang underscored the need to have strong legislation to deter people from engaging in human trafficking, saying that government, the civil society and other stakeholders must work together to strengthen extant anti-human trafficking legislation.
She stressed that this would go a long way to address the menace of human trafficking in a more comprehensive way.
“When we look at the root causes of human trafficking, the most common one is the limited opportunities which young people have in their countries,” she stated.
Tambajang stressed the need for Africa to work with the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU) and other development partners to create opportunities that would aid the socio-economic fulfillment of the youth.
The Queen Mother of Afigya-Kwabre in the Ashanti Region of Ghana and First President of the Continental Executive Board of the African Queens and Women Cultural Leaders Network, Nana Obaapa Awindor, intimated that human trafficking is not peculiar to Africa.
"When we are talking about human trafficking, it is not only about Africa, but the world at large, in Ghana there are agencies that send people abroad for trafficking," she posited.
The Queen Mother said in Africa poverty was responsible for parents giving out their children for trafficking and some of them were used for prostitution.
She commended the role of the social media in curbing the menace of trafficking while calling on parents to join the fight to stem the tide of trafficking.
Obaapa Awindor emphasized the role of our traditional systems in being each other’s keeper and encouraged Africans to go back to our communal systems where families looked out and cared for each other's children.
She noted that the traditional authority has a big role to play to stop the menace of trafficking
“Our television and internet are taking us away from cultures and what use to bring us together, our cultural activities are fading away with advent of internet,” she concluded.
Titi Atiku-Abubakar, the wife of former Vice President of Nigeria narrated how she sponsored a bill to eradicate human trafficking and child labour which led to establishment of WOTCLEF.
She conceived the dream to fight trafficking 30 year ago when her husband became the vice president, an opportunity to push the course through.
“I have been doing this job for almost 20 years; I conceived the dream 30 years ago,” Mrs. Atiku-Abubakar stated.
Mrs. Abubakar further recounted the numerous challenges she encountered before the bill could scale through, adding that she had to become a regular visitor to the NASS before it was passed.
Other speakers at the event which includes Prof. Phillip Ogbonna of Soren Kierkergaard Academic Society Africa, Amb. Ifeoma Ejiogu Africa Focal person of United States Latino America Chamber of Commerce, Dr Beatrice Ubeku President of West Africa Women Association of Nigeria under the aegis of ECOWAS,SHEROES Sisterhood Network USA and Liberia, National Council of Women Societies.
The delegation to the dialogue came to the conclusion that the government has a greater role to play economically to make the continent attractive to the youth for them to find a place in it and not wish for illusory paradise elsewhere.
They urged African leaders to create an enabling environment for private sector participation in job creation activities so as to encourage young people, who were potential victims of human trafficking, to jettison the idea of travelling overseas to boost their living standards.
Participants called for the development of sound economic policies that would spur economic growth and provide opportunities in the agricultural and productive sectors as well as trade incentives should be put in place to discourage the youth from being ensnared by human traffickers.
The Government of Gambia has opted to host the 2019 edition of the dialogue which is scheduled for July 2019 as African women needs to continuously seek for alternatives and solutions to socio-cultural issues undermining the economic wellbeing of the African woman.
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