The National Action Plan and the Guidelines were produced by the ministry of Internal Affairs, with technical support from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) under the Better Migration Management (BMM) Programme.
BMM is a regional, multi-year, multi-partner programme funded by the European Union Emergency Trust Fund for Africa and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It is coordinated by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
IOM is one of the implementing partners, with activities in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda.
BMM aims at improving migration management in the Horn of Africa, notably by supporting partners in the region to better address irregular migration, smuggling of migrants and trafficking in persons.
TACKLING HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Uganda is a country of origin, transit, and destination of trafficked men, women, and children subjected to various forms of exploitation, including forced labour, child sacrifice, street begging, child marriage and sex trafficking.
However, the authorities are making significant strides to address the problem. In 2009, Uganda passed the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act, which mandates Government to produce a five-year National Action Plan on TiP.
Uganda’s first NAP, which expired in December 2018, was based on five strategic objectives, including: enhancing national policies and legal frameworks, increasing successful prosecutions, reducing vulnerability to human trafficking, improving victim protection and assistance mechanisms, as well as developing well-coordinated systems and structures to manage the crime.
In his foreword, Internal Affairs minister Jeje Odongo, said the second NAP builds on lessons learnt from implementing the first, and urged partners to adjust their investment plans accordingly.
“The key strategic pillars include establishment of structures and systems to prevent the crime in a sustainable way; ability to systematically identify, protect and support victims; effective investigations and prosecution of the offenders; and creation of a functional partnership between players at both the national and transnational levels,” the minister said.
The National Referral Guidelines for Management of Victims of Trafficking were developed to harmonize and have a coordinated approach to how different stakeholders handle TiP information and cases, targeting both victims and perpetrators.