Zimbabwe - On 24 March, IOM handed over office equipment and furniture to the Trafficking in Persons (TiP) Secretariat of the Ministry of Home Affairs in Zimbabwe. The items are intended to strengthen institutional capacity for the effective coordination and efficient functioning of the country’s Anti-Trafficking Inter-Ministerial Committee (AT-IMC).

The initiative falls under the framework of the Promoting Migration Governance in Zimbabwe project being implemented by IOM, in partnership with the Government of Zimbabwe and with funding from the European Union under the 11th European Development Fund. The project aims to contribute to the establishment of a migration governance framework in Zimbabwe, which supports state actors to manage migration in dialogue with non-state actors in a migrant-centred, gender-sensitive, rights-based and development-oriented manner.

The items include assorted office furniture, two laptops, three Samsung tablets, an LCD projector, a tripod screen, a multifunction printer, a binding machine and stationery. The equipment will enhance the TiP Secretariat’s functions which include human trafficking database management and coordination/implementation of anti-trafficking activities and programmes of all agencies under the AT-IMC’s sub-committees.

“This equipment are the tools of trade which will capacitate the TiP Secretariat to carry out its mandate as the Government of Zimbabwe scales up its response to human trafficking,” said Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs Melusi Matshiya in acknowledgement of IOM’s support.

IOM will also reinforce the TiP Secretariat’s technical and administrative capacities by seconding a project officer to work closely with the Secretariat. The secondment support will strengthen the Government of Zimbabwe, to coordinate, and monitor TiP activities in the country through coordination meetings.

Zimbabwe is a source, transit and destination country for trafficking. The country was caught in a trafficking “storm” when over 150 women were trafficked to Kuwait between 2015 and 2016. The Kuwait trafficking case has brought the problem of human trafficking in the Zimbabwean population to the fore. This has spurred state and non-state actors to make concerted efforts to address the human trafficking scourge. The enactment of the Trafficking in Persons Act in June 2014 and the launch of the Anti-Trafficking National Plan of Action demonstrate the government’s commitment to fight human trafficking.

“IOM remains committed to continue working with the Government of Zimbabwe, the Ministry of Home Affairs and indeed the TiP Secretariat in strengthening our technical cooperation in order to make our collective fight against human trafficking more effective while enabling us to better protect the victims of the crime,” said Lily Sanya, IOM Zimbabwe Chief of Mission.

For further information, please contact Gideon Madera in IOM Zimbabwe, Tel: +263 4 704285, Email:  gmadera@iom.int