By Stanley Nkhondoyachepa

Lilongwe, May 1, Mana: Plan Malawi has asked the media to partner with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and other actors in advocacy and promotion of Trafficking in Person (TIP) victims’ rights.

The organization’s Project Manager for Enhancing Capacity and Coordination to Combat TIP project, Alinikisa Mphongolo, said this in Dowa on Monday when she opened a day long advocacy training for editors and reporters from various media houses on TIP.

Mphongolo noted that TIP continues to increase in Malawi despite effort by government, NGOs and local civil society organizations.

She said it was important that her organization engages the media to orient news editors and reporters on the legal framework, gaps and challenges being experienced by TIP victims as well as develop a joint advocacy plan for promotion of TIP victims’ rights.

She said in alignment with TIP office priorities, the Enhancing for Coordination to Combat Trafficking in Person (ECTIP) project is being implemented in Mulanje and Mwanza districts to strengthen the capacity of frontline actors, refine and align national level policies and programming, among others.

She called on the media to sensitize the public on issues of TIP and advocate for the rights of victims.

Making a presentation, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) National Project Officer, Maxwell Matewere, observed that TIP is an organized crime that needs a multi-sectoral approach to combat.

“Human trafficking is a highly profitable crime and the second largest, fastest growing criminal enterprise that also involves high profile people,” he said.

Matewere observed that beside people being trafficked on the pretext of job offers, other forms of trafficking were also on the increase.

“Each year an estimated US$150 billion is generated by traffickers, with US$99 billion in sex and US$51 billion in other forms of trafficking beside employment,” he said.

Matewere said TIP victims are subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment which require counselling at a conducive environment when rescued.

He bemoaned the lack of enough and secure shelters for rescued TIP victims to undergo professional counselling before going back to the communities.

One of the participants, Sarah Munthali, a Malawi News Agency editor, described the training as an eye opener.

“This will help us to bring awareness to the citizens on issues of TIP and follow up on such cases to prevent the malpractice,” she said.

Munthali observed that the knowledge acquired will help news editors and reporters to spot the red lines for potential trafficking, having been trained on the tricks the traffickers use to get unsuspecting people trafficked.