UN hails anti-human trafficking measures
THE United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has commended Government for intensifying the fight against the trafficking of women and children.
UNODC national project officer for Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Migrants, Mr Banele Kunene said sexual exploitation and forced labour were the most prominent forms of trafficking.
He said women and children were the main targets of traffickers across the world.
Mr Kunene was speaking during the commemorations of the World Anti -trafficking in Persons Day held at Dulivhadzimo Stadium recently.
“It is apparent that women and children have been on the receiving end of such a crime. Therefore this year’s theme (of the World Anti-trafficking in Persons Day), which calls for responding to trafficking of young people and women particularly resonates with the entire world,” he said.
“Unfortunately the average number of convictions remains low. UNODC’s findings shows that there is a close correlation between the length of time that the trafficking law has been on the statute books and the conviction rates. Therefore as UNODC we commend the republic of Zimbabwe’s demonstrated commitment to the fight against the scourge of trafficking in persons as evidenced by its (Zimbabwe) Trafficking Act No. 4, which was enacted in 2014.
“This has enabled the Government’s efforts in securing trafficking in persons’ convictions and also in identifying and protecting more trafficking victims in recent years. The Government of Zimbabwe’s continued efforts to build the capacity of criminal justice practitioners on victim identification and interviewing techniques is well commended.”
He said the UNODC and the Sadc secretariat had a regional data collection system which saw the first regional report on related issues covering 2014 and 2016 being launched in August in Tanzania.
He said the data was mainly from law enforcement agents which gave an outlook of the cases of human trafficking in the region.
United States’ political officer (US Embassy) Mr Ben Wiselogle said partnerships between civil society and increased Government coordination were critical in fighting human trafficking.