By Ifeanyi Olannye
The International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) has called on Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) across Nigeria to strengthen community-based strategies aimed at tackling Trafficking in Persons and Violence Against Persons (TIP-VAP).
The charge was made on Wednesday in Asaba during the opening of a three-day capacity building workshop organised by ICMPD in collaboration with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).
The workshop, themed “A Three-Day Capacity Building Workshop for Partner CSOs on Community Sensitisation Approaches for TIP-VAP Prevention and Response in Five States,” brought together representatives of civil society groups from Delta State, Edo State, Ogun State, Enugu State and Benue State.
Speaking in an interview, Mrs. Rhoda Dia-Johnson, Project Manager of the Schools Anti-Trafficking Education and Advocacy Project (STEAP) at ICMPD Nigeria, said the training was designed to strengthen the operational and advocacy capacity of partner CSOs implementing the project in the participating states.
According to her, the STEAP TIP-VAP initiative is funded by the Government of the Netherlands and implemented by ICMPD in collaboration with NAPTIP and the Ministry of Education.
“This training is for our partner CSOs across the five states where the project is being implemented. The workshop provides an opportunity to review the activities carried out by the organisations in 2025, assess the challenges encountered and explore ways of addressing them,” Dia-Johnson said.
She explained that two additional CSOs had recently joined the programme and would also receive orientation on administrative procedures, financial management, reporting processes and operational templates required for effective implementation.
Dia-Johnson further noted that the training would broaden the scope of community sensitisation activities carried out by the organisations to include both Trafficking in Persons (TIP) and Violence Against Persons (VAP).
“Community awareness messages will now focus on TIP-VAP to ensure that communities are familiar with the provisions of the Violence Against Persons Act and are able to utilise the legal protections provided under the law,” she added.
The project manager commended the participating CSOs for their performance so far but urged them to intensify awareness campaigns within their communities to further curb the menace of human trafficking and violence.
She explained that the STEAP project, a four-year programme scheduled to end in 2027, could be extended into a second phase depending on the assessment of the donor, the Government of the Netherlands.
“If the donor is satisfied with the impact and progress recorded, there is a possibility of extending the project into a second phase. That decision will depend on the outcome of ongoing discussions and the results achieved,” she said.
Dia-Johnson expressed optimism that if the programme is extended, it could be expanded to additional states to strengthen the national response to human trafficking and violence against persons.
Also speaking, Mr. Sam Offiah, Commander of the Benin Zonal Command of National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, said the collaboration between NAPTIP and ICMPD had significantly contributed to raising awareness and curbing trafficking activities in communities.
He urged the partner CSOs to intensify community sensitisation on the warning signs of trafficking and violence against persons through education, reporting mechanisms and advocacy.
Offiah noted that women and children remain the most vulnerable groups affected by trafficking, adding that NAPTIP had also established anti-trafficking and violence vanguard groups in schools under the STEAP project to sensitise students and empower them as advocates against the menace.
Responding on behalf of the participating organisations, representatives of Hope Health Organisation (HHO), Delta; Girls Power Initiative (GPI), Benin; and Gender Development Initiative (GDI), Ogun, pledged to apply the knowledge gained from the workshop to strengthen grassroots advocacy and intensify the fight against human trafficking and violence against persons in their respective states. (NAN)
