Addressing human trafficking issues discussed

LAHORE: An NGO Wednesday organised a consultative workshop under the "Advocacy for Combating Human Trafficking" (ACT) project to address human trafficking issues.

The project is funded by AustralianAid through the Australian High Commission in Islamabad. Addressing the workshop, CEO SHARP-Pakistan Muhammad Mudassar Sanghaira emphasized the shared commitment to combating human trafficking and the importance of collaborative efforts in this regard. 

SHARP-Pakistan thanks Australian High Commission to help and facilitate Pakistan in curbing and eradicating human trafficking. "The ACT project is driven by a collective mission to educate and sensitise individuals about the true nature of human trafficking and its dire consequences.

Through targeted awareness campaigns, we aim to equip potential victims with accurate information to make informed decisions about migration, evaluate job offers, and seek help if faced with trafficking," remarked Sanghaira. Ms Manam Hanfi, project coordinator, highlighted the significance of consultative workshops as crucial platforms for engagement, providing an opportunity for diverse perspectives and experiences to come together in the fight against human trafficking. She gave a detailed presentation on the Smuggling of the Migrants Act and Prevention of Trafficking in People ACT (2018) and opened the floor for discussion and recommendations on the drawbacks in the policy advocacy and implementation of the acts. Hamid Latif, Field Manager SHARP Lahore and Ms Arooj Un Nissa, lawyer at SHARP, facilitated the breakout session which focused on recommendations from the participants on prevention, victim support, law enforcement and policy advocacy and technology with reference to human trafficking in Pakistan. The participants urged civil society and political parties to incorporate combating human trafficking in their mandate..

Through this project the ACT team has conducted twelve awareness raising session with youth and community members in Mandi Bahauddin, Swat, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Karachi and Mianwali.