APA, Abuja (Nigeria) Nigeria and 42 other African countries have ratified the Palermo Protocol on Human Trafficking, Ms Joy Ezeilo, United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons said on Wednesday in Abuja.
The Protocol adopted by the United Nations in Palermo, Italy in 2000 seeks to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children and trans-national organized crimes.
Ezeilo was speaking at the launch of the African Union (AU) campaign for the ECOWAS Region and Workshop on Operationalising the Ouagadougou Action PLan to combat trafficking in persons, especially women and children.
“Forty-three out of the 53 African states have ratified the Palermo Protocol ; including 13 of the 15 ECOWAS member states including Nigeria,’’ she said.
Ezeilo, who noted that the root causes of trafficking were yet to be addressed, pointed out some of the factors responsible, which she said include growing poverty, youth unemployment and gender inequalities.
She listed the others as discrimination and gender-based violence, which she said increase vulnerability to trafficking especially in women and girls.
Ezeilo explained further that there are cultural practices and gender discrimination in Africa that fueled huge internal and international trafficking.
“The current world economic crisis has further exacerbated the desperation and the quest for human security, survival and development,’’ Ezeilo stressed.
The expert who suggested that adoption of international, regional and national strategies would address the root causes added that the strategies must be people-centred.
She listed the strategies to include the `protection, prosecution, punishment, prevention, and promoting international cooperation and partnership (5Ps) ; redress, recovery and reintegration (3Rs) and capacity, cooperation and coordination (3Cs).
Also, the AU Commissioner for Social Affairs, Ms Bience Gawanas said the aim of the AU campaign was to raise awareness of the authority’s continued commitment towards tackling the problem of trafficking in human beings across the continent.
She expressed concern that in spite of the various regional efforts in fighting the scourge, great number of victims of African origin were found within the continent, Europe and other parts of the world.
Earlier, the ECOWAS Commission President, Victor Gbeho said that human trafficking was a serious challenge to the security and welfare of women and children all over the world, depriving its victims of their basic dignity and rights.
“It has become a worldwide criminal business enterprise, perhaps second only to trafficking in drugs and weapons in its profitability,’’ Gbeho said.
