IOM is conducting a three-day training from 14 to 16 December, in
the city of Bafata, on victim identification and provision of
protection assistance, for 20  representatives from local
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as well as state agencies
providing services to child victims of trafficking (VoTs).

The training in Bafata follows a similar event conducted in
November in the town of Gabu. The training locations were chosen
based on the fact that 90 per cent of the children trafficked in
Guinea Bissau originated from the two regions.

The trainings are part of a wider IOM project titled "Building a
Support Network for Child Victims of Trafficking in Guinea-Bissau",
funded by the US State Department, Trafficking in Persons (TiP)
office, which seeks to support counter-trafficking efforts in the
country overall and to strengthen government and civil society
capacity to provide services to VoTs.

Within the framework of the project, IOM will conduct on-going
training with counter-trafficking partners in both Gabu and Bafata,
as well as with the National Committee for Combating Trafficking in
Children in the capital city of Bissau, in 2011.

The 2010 TiP report indicates that Guinea Bissau is a major
centre of recruitment for child trafficking in West Africa, with
children trafficked chiefly from the eastern regions of the country
and largely exploited for forced begging in neighboring countries
such as Senegal. Children in the country are particularly
vulnerable to trafficking given the common practice among poor
families of sending children abroad to live (and work) at religious
based schools in Senegal.

"Child trafficking is ingrained in the Guinean society as a way
to provide alternatives for children of poor families. Parents and
communities need to be sensitized on the risks incurred by children
entrusted to a third person for studying purposes," says Patricia
Ribeiro Ferro, IOM national project coordinator in Guinea Bissau.
"IOM is committed to working with Bafata and Gabu service
providers, other community and national partners to prevent child
trafficking and support the provision of quality services to child
VoTs," she adds.

Since 2006 IOM has worked with local NGOs including SOS
Talibé and the Association of Friends of the Child (AMIC)
providing services to child victims of trafficking such as return
and reintegration services. IOM also works with the Ministry of
Women, Family, Social Cohesion and the Fight Against Poverty,
through its Institute for Women and Children and assisted in the
drafting of a National Plan of Action on Counter-Trafficking in
2008.

For more information contact:

Patricia Ribeiro Ferro

IOM Bissau

E-mail: "mailto:pferro@iom.int">pferro@iom.int

or

IOM Dakar Counter-trafficking Unit

E-mail: "mailto:dkrct@iom.int">dkrct@iom.int