Ministry of Homeland Security has asked anti-human trafficking organisations to work together in curbing trafficking in persons instead of competing with each another.
Principal Secretary of Ministry of Homeland Security Harry Kanjewe made the remarks during the opening ceremony of a two-day Annual Review and Best Practice Conference on the enforcement of the Trafficking in Persons Act (2015) in Lilongwe.
The 2015 Trafficking in Persons Act prohibits all forms of trafficking and prescribes punishments of up to life imprisonment for perpetrators of the crime.
Speaking with reporters, Kanjewe said the ministry is putting all the effort to make sure that the crime is put to an end to the point that cases are not registered.
He added that they are taking a responsibility to ensure that the Trafficking in Person Act is enforced.
“Currently what is on the ground is that we have already produced strategies that have been reviewed by different sectors and this meeting will as well shape and bring together different ideas that can be used to end trafficking as a crime,” he said.
In his remarks, Chairperson of Malawi Network Against Trafficking (MNAT) Rodrick Mulonya said MNAT being a network of 360 of non-governmental organizations is working with secondary and primary school teachers as a way of bringing awareness to everyone so that at the end of the day no one is left behind.
On his part, National Project Officer on Trafficking in Persons for United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Maxwell Matewere said there is a need for stakeholders to meet and reflect on how they have been responding to the issues of human trafficking so that they can close gaps that have been hindering the fight against the crime.
He therefore commended organizations such as Youth Network and Counselling (YONECO), Association of Persons with Albinism (APAM) and Love Justice International for working with government and other stakeholders on the same.
