US support for anti-trafficking initiative

Togo and the United States launched on Tuesday a FCFA 1.376 billion (US $2 million) initiative against child trafficking. Officials said the project would help attract and retain children in schools. Titled 'Child Labor Education Initiative' (CLEI) and funded through the US labour department, the project aims to remove children from the labour market and offer them educational opportunities. Particular attention will be paid to girls who are most vulnerable to traffickers. The project, which US Ambassador Karl Hoffman said was a first in West Africa, will focus on strengthening national and communal capacity, ensuring support for children rescued from traffickers. It will also support the Togolese government to enforce anti-trafficking measures. Funding will be disbursed from 1 October. Proposals from NGOs and other humanitarian groups that would like to participate in the project are now being accepted. Togo, along with Benin, last month begun to create local anti-trafficking committees to educate people living in rural areas about child trafficking. The seven-member committees are already operational in the districts of Assoli, Bassar, Kloto, Wawa, and others. The signing ceremony was held in the capital, Lome, and attended by US Deputy Under-Secretary of Labour, Michael Magan, and Togo's Minister for Social Affairs, Irene Ashira Assih. Hoffman told the audience that the new initiative could be extended to other countries in the region.