Story by John Nhandara
The government has launched the second Zimbabwe Anti Trafficking in Persons National Plan of Action as part of a national response strategy to fight the scourge of human trafficking.
A procession march from Compensation House to the Harare International Conference Centre was the highlight of some of the activities which characterised the launch this Wednesday.
Launched by Vice President General (Retired) Dr Constantino Chiwenga, who is also the Minister of Health and Child Care, the National Plan of Action is anchored on four pillars of prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of cases and partnership coordination in fighting the scourge of human trafficking.
The Vice President noted, “Trafficking in persons is a real and present danger hence we need clear and robust institutional arrangements to deal with this scourge as part of the regional and global family. Our trafficking in person’s national plan of action was therefore crafted to guide on how we tackle this challenge.”
Vice President Chiwenga said the launch of the National Plan of Action comes at a time Government has repatriated victims of human trafficking from countries such as Kuwait, Oman and the Middle East.
“Zimbabwe frowns at this heinous crime which is also a grave violation of human rights. This crime strips an individual of all their dignity, their self-worth and their confidence. In 2016, lured by false job promises, a significant number of Zimbabwean women were trafficked to Kuwait. When the plight of these 213 citizens reached us, the government facilitated their repatriation and brought them back home to safety,” he noted.
He added, “In 2022 the county witnessed a new unfortunate trend where our young women were being lured to travel to Oman again on lucrative job offer we reacted.”
Zimbabwe ratified the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime in 2013 and it acceded to the Palermo Protocol which seeks to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children.
