CSOs rally Busia community leaders to champion fight against human trafficking
Make a Child Smile a Non- Governmental Organization (NGO) dedicated to ending modern day slavery and child sacrifice has appealed to local leaders in Busia district to rise up and use their positions and influence to end human trafficking.
The call was made by Make a Child Smile Executive Director, Alex Ssembatya during a sensitization workshop of local leaders of over 20 villages in Busia district.
The meeting was part of a sensitization campaign that was launched by the organization in conjunction with End Modern Slavery (EMS) on March 15,2022 aimed at reviving the fight against human trafficking and child sacrifice.
“We are here to create awareness and recruit leaders within the border district of Busia so that they become champions in the fight against human trafficking and child sacrifice. Due to the porous borders, our children who are mostly girls are trafficked to Kenya only to worker as street beggars, scrap dealers, commercial sex workers among other exploitative ventures,” Ssembatya said.
“We were able to hold sensitization meetings among students in several schools both secondary and Primary schools, the police, the judiciary, the local leaders from LC5 to LC1 Chairpersons with the aim of equipping them with information that they can pass on to their community members.”
He encouraged the school going children to always be vigilant and avoid taking gifts from strangers whose aim is to kidnap them and lure them into criminal behaviors.
During the meeting, local leaders committed to amplify the fight against human trafficking despite expressing disappointment in the security organs especially the Police that have on several times neglected and ignored the cases of human trafficking reported to them.
However, Detective Superintendent of Police, Rose Nalubega the Police’s acting Commissioner Sexual and Children Offences at the CID headquarters promised that her officer will work to prioritize cases of human trafficking encouraging all stakeholders to work directly with her for smooth running of cases.
Nalubega noted that human trafficking is a crime and everyone is a potential victim and therefore it requires every stakeholder to join efforts to put it to an end.
