By Olamide Francis
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has pledged its continuous support for the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) to curb human trafficking.
UNODC Project Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr. Azim Arshad, 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 new national plan of action against human trafficking is a five-year plan – 2021 to 2025 aimed at 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.
Migration Officer of the Switzerland Embassy in Nigeria, Mr. Manuel Muhlebach, said the embassy would support efforts to implement the new national plan of action and also pledged support for NAPTIP to achieve the desired results.