26/04/2021
A-TIPSOM has trained the project's partner institutions in the preparation of memoranda of understanding, which are key agreements for common actions against trafficking
Combating human trafficking and migrant smuggling requires effective collaboration between nations, agencies, and organisations. Most of these collaborations and partnerships are based on so-called Memoranda of Understanding (MoU).
Inter-institutional and international collaboration are among the objectives of A-TIPSOM, a project financed by the European Union (EU) and managed by FIIAPP whose objective is to combat human trafficking and migrant smuggling in Nigeria.
For this reason, it is necessary for A-TIPSOM partner agencies and organisations to understand the operation of an MoU and its processes, from drafting to signing the document.
With this objective, FIIAPP organised a workshop aimed at strengthening the capacities of the project partners in drafting, signing and reviewing memoranda of understanding on human trafficking and migrant smuggling.
Agents from the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), the Nigerian Immigration Service, the Nigerian Police and the Network of Civil Society Organisations Against Child Trafficking, Abuse and Labour (NACTAL) have participated in the activity.
During the workshop, the general director of NAPTIP, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, thanked both FIIAPP and the EU for holding this workshop: ‘It is not only timely and appropriate, but it is in line with NAPTIP’s renewed vision.
According to the latter, it is well known that human trafficking and migrant smuggling are transnational in nature and the fight against crime has to cross the borders across which law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders work together to combat this crime.
In addition, the coordinator of A-TIPSOM Nigeria, the police officer Rafael Ríos, asserted that, through the project, there has been very significant inter-institutional strengthening since no agency can successfully tackle the fight against human trafficking and the illicit trafficking of migrants alone.
Finally, the technical advisor of the A-TIPSOM project, Ugo Loreal Ogbundue, indicated that the workshop can increase the knowledge of the participants regarding the processes involved in entering into an MoU and improve synergies and partnerships between agencies and entities at the national, regional and international level in the fight against human trafficking and smuggling.
