Monrovia, (ILO News): The ILO in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour in Liberia organized a Four- Day Step Down Training for National Trafficking in Persons Focal Points to enhance participants’ understanding of the current trends in the areas of Trafficking in persons (TIP), Forced Labor, Child Labor and labour Migration and how to address the challenges associated with these phenomena. The workshop will run from 5th -8th November 2018, in Monrovia, Liberia.

The specific objective of the workshop included:
• Enhancing participants’ understanding of the current trends in the areas of Trafficking in persons (TIP), Forced Labor, Child Labor and labour Migration.
• Sharing best practices in the elimination of Trafficking in persons (TIP), Forced Labour, and Child Labour.
• Sensitizing participants on Alliance 8.7. and discuss how to establish/ strengthen its coordination.

In his opening address, the Deputy Labour Minister for Planning, Atty. Phil T. Dixon, noted that the International Labour Organization (ILO), ECOWAS and other UN agencies or international partners had shown great interest in supporting Liberia’s engagement in the fight against Trafficking In-Persons (TIP) in Liberia. He stated that many requests sent by the Liberian Government to the international organizations had received a greater level of support than anticipated and that the level of support was a vote of confidence in the effort that the current administration at the Ministry of Labour was giving to the issues of human trafficking and child labour. He informed participants that due to the importance the Government of Liberia attached to the fight against trafficking in Persons, the TIP Taskforce regular meeting was now pushed to a level that more Cabinet Ministers were attending the meeting personally.He assured the participants that Liberia was prepared to take steps towards improving its status in the fight against TIP, child labour and other ills in society and was optimistic of the success and impact of the training. 

The ILO Country Office Director, Mr. Dennis Zulu, in his address delivered by a representative stated that Liberia was among four countries in West Africa that were selected to benefit from this Step-Down Training for TIP National Focal points; and informed that Liberia was selected based on the request sent to the ILO Country Office Abuja. The address highlighted the significance of the training towards building the capacity of NFPs in the five thematic areas (Understanding the issues, Preventing Trafficking and Exploitation, Protecting People at Risk, Protecting People in the Workplace and Matters of Process), and to strengthen coordination in the combat of TIP, Child labour and Forced labour at the national level.

The workshop also sensitized stakeholders on achieving SDG 8.7 relating to Force Labour, child labour and trafficking. In view of this, the workshop informed participants on their role in achieving target 8.7 through Alliance 8.7 in a bid to promote coordinated and pro-active interventions to accelerate the elimination of TIP, child labour and Force labour at the country level.

The Director of the Anti-Human Trafficking Taskforce at the Ministry of Labour, Mr. Adolphus Satiah, in his addresses noted that due to the budgetary constraint the secretariat had been unable to conduct the Step Down training following the blended program held in 2016. He appreciated the ILO for supporting the Ministry to ensure that the workshop happens. He urged participants to make full use of the opportunity so they can carry out similar training for their counterparts at national and local levels.

The workshop was implemented by the ILO through the FMM West Africa project and sponsored by the European Union in collaboration with ECOWAS within the framework of the Support to Free Movement of Persons and Migration in West Africa Project.