Botswana works with UNODC, SADC to address human-trafficking problem

GABORONE, June 19 — Botswana is joining the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in addressing the human-trafficking problem, according to authorities.

In a workshop held with the UNODC in Gaborone on Tuesday, Victor Paledi, the acting permanent secretary in the Botswana Ministry of Defence, Justice and Security, said the country has embarked on a nationwide campaign to ensure the strengthening of anti-human trafficking regulations.

The government has made several pronouncements through its National Development Plan 11, Vision 2036 and Sustainable Development Roadmap to root out human trafficking, punish perpetrators, protect victims and maximize anti-human trafficking initiatives through strategic alliances, he said.

Addressing the meeting, Fernando Cumbe, SADC police liaison officer, said that human trafficking is a great concern not only to Botswana, but the whole region.

Cumbe praised Botswana for continually striving to strengthen developments of counter trafficking regulations, a move that is in line with SADC’s Revised Strategic Plan of Action on

Combating Trafficking in Persons.

The workshop attracted government employees, civil societies, regional and global development partners, with the purpose of charting ways to shape regulation for the maximization and operationalization of the Anti-Human Trafficking Act of 2014 promulgated by the country. – XINHUA