The Federal Government, in partnership with the Swiss government and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes, (UNODC) has begun five-day capacity training for officers of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) towards implementation of the National Action Plan on Human Trafficking 2022-2026.
NAPTIP’s Director General, Prof. Fatima Waziri-Azi, who spoke at the opening of the workshop in Abuja, explained that the programme, meant for her officers and civil society organisations (CSOs) in the counter-trafficking space, seeks implementation strategy on reviewed data collection instruments for trafficking in persons.
Her words: “This capacity building event is a pivotal component of a broader initiative under the Swiss government-supported project entitled: ‘From Policy to Action: Implementation of the National Action Plan on Human Trafficking in Nigeria 2022-2026’, being co-implemented by NAPTIP and one of its major international development partners – the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
“The journey to this training has been marked by meticulous and collaborative efforts. In December 2023, NAPTIP initiated an in-house review of the agency’s data collection instruments, as well as the template used for national data collection on human trafficking.”
Represented by the Director Legal, Hassan Tahir, the DG noted that the review was crucial to ensure that data collection tools were comprehensive and reflective of current realities in the field of counter-trafficking.
The review, according to her, also incorporated critical components such as disability indicators, which are essential for inclusive data reporting and ensuring that no one is left behind in Nigeria’s anti-trafficking efforts.
She added that the training, “is to ensure that the instruments are standardised and can be effectively utilised across various platforms, and by the numerous duty-bearing agencies responsible for reporting.”
Representative of the Migration Adviser, Embassy of Switzerland in Nigeria, Christian Brugger, said stakeholders’ collaboration is essential to strengthening the fight against human trafficking.
Also speaking, Acting Country Representative of UNODC, Danilo Campisi, observed that the training marks a significant in stakeholders’ collective efforts to combat the menace in Nigeria. He said the expiration of the first national plan of action (2009-2012) demands a new plan, hence the new 2022-2026 scheme.
