The Ministry of Justice of Cabo Verde held an extended meeting of the National Anti-Trafficking Observatory to discuss future actions. They want to enhance the institutional coordination mechanism in order to prevent and combat trafficking in persons as well as the national policy response.
The opening ceremony was chaired by H.E. Dr. Joana Gomes Rosa Amado, Minister of Justice of Cabo Verde and included welcoming notes provided by Martijn Pluim, Director Migration Dialogues and Cooperation at ICMPD, Mr. Jeff Daigle, US Ambassador Cabo Verde, Ms. Carla Grijó, EU Ambassador and Head of Delegation Cabo Verde and Ms. Kelly Lopes, Political Advisor at the Office of the Special Representative of the President ECOWAS Commission in Cabo Verde.
20 participants from institutions and non-governmental organisations took part in the three-day discussions. The anti-trafficking stakeholders gathered in order to revive the Observatory’s operations and to begin the process of developing the country’s new anti-trafficking strategy and action plan. Starting point of the process will be an assessment of the implementation of the concluded 2018-2021 Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP).
The meeting was jointly organised in the framework of two projects, implemented by ICMPD in the country: “Strengthen the National Observatory Capacity to Tackle Trafficking in Persons in Cabo Verde” (OBSERVE-CV), funded by the Office to Monitor and Combat TIP of the US Department of State and “Organised Crime: West Africa Response to Trafficking” (OCWAR-T), funded by the European Union and the German Federal Foreign Office.