IRIN focus on regional efforts against child trafficking

Already burdened by brutal civil wars, internal conflicts, socio-political unrest, and economic difficulties - all of which have retarded development- West and Central African countries have woken up to another challenge: child trafficking and exploitation. The phenomenon is an emerging problem that the countries have realised they will have to address. UNICEF, for instance, estimates that 200,000 children are trafficked each year in the region. On 8-10 January, regional experts met over the issue in a seminar held in Yamoussoukro, Cote d’Ivoire. Organised by the international police organisation, Interpol, and the Ivorian government, the "First Specialised Meeting on Child Trafficking and Exploitation in West and Central Africa" proved an opportunity to share experiences, exchange information and review national strategies. Participants at Yamoussoukro agreed on the need to combat child trafficking through increased cooperation. The conference’s final declaration- The Yamoussoukro Declaration- states as a first point that the participants, including government ministries, NGOs and UN agencies, pledge to conduct synchronised information campaigns to fight against a phenomenon whose existence governments acknowledged only recently. Child trafficking, the conference heard, was first acknowledged as a new scourge in West and Central Africa during a regional workshop organised by UNICEF in Cotonou, Benin in 1998. Yet the problem can be traced to earlier years. Susanne Aho, director general of Togo’s child protection department, told IRIN that the first significant news reports of child trafficking in her country were in 1992. But it was in 2001 that child trafficking gained unprecedented international attention. In April, a boat "The Etinero" grabbed the region’s attention when it was reported that it had left the port city of Cotonou carrying over 200 "child slaves" destined to work in central African countries. After two weeks at sea, during which period the Etinero was refused docking in Gabon and Cameroon, the boat returned to Cotonou. Authorities then found that it carried about 140 people, including 40 children and youths aged between five and 24 years old, who after interviews, confirmed they were heading to work in the central African region. Following the event, the media started paying closer attention to the phenomenon. Consequently, it labelled several countries in the region "slave states" - including the Atlantic coast-countries, from Cote d’Ivoire to Gabon, and others like Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger. All these countries were represented at the Yamoussoukro seminar. But while defining child trafficking, it is important to note that not all population movement is illegal, the regional experts said. Child trafficking, they said, was "a phenomenon where an individual (called an intermediary), who for a fee and through violence or ruse, displaces within or outside a national territory an individual less than 18 years old for sexual or commercial exploitation, generally with the complicity of the parents". Child trafficking and exploitation are banned by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the UN agency that regulates labour practices around the globe. Participants also clarified the difference between this practice and the "socialisation" of the African child. "Socialisation" is a process in which skills are taught by family members during a child's years of growth, they said, such as skills learned during school holidays when children are sent to relatives in neighbouring countries. Performing household chores, farming, selling at the market, working in a relative’s mechanical shop, fall in this category. Equally, trafficking is different from the traditional population movement or seasonal displacement that has linked West and Central African countries for centuries. Two types of trafficking were identified - internal and external. Internal trafficking occurs within the boundaries of a national territory, while external trafficking occurs across national borders. The states involved were also classified. A supplier state is the victim’s state of origin while the final destination is a receiver state. Victims can transit through states to reach a final destination. In West Africa, Cote d’Ivoire is a receiver state for Malian and Burkinabe children. In Central Africa, Cameroon is a transit state for Togolese, Nigerian and Beninese children heading to Gabon which is considered an "Eldorado" because of its relative prosperity due to the oil industry. According to the seminar, child trafficking is encouraged by several causes including poverty, constant demand for manual labour, traditional migratory flows, some of which have turned into illicit flows of persons, youth seeking independence, high birth rates and polygamy, porous borders, lack of legislation, and deficient school systems. It was agreed that in the fight against the practice, the first obstacle was the lack of reliable statistics. At the moment, no scientific study exists that would provide accurate data on the problem. Even where some statistics exist, they are believed to be often underestimated. Still participants had some statistical indicators of the magnitude. In 2001, there were 297 trafficking victims in Togo, according to Suzanne Aho, while in Senegal, 400,000 children are "at risk" of prostitution, underage labour and other unlawful practices, Senegalese representative Amadou Yoro N’Diaye told IRIN. Mali's minister for women, child and family affairs, Afoussatou Thiero Diarra, told IRIN about 500 youth fell victim between September 2000 and August 2001, to trafficking between Cote d’Ivoire and Mali. Countries at the seminar pledged to conduct a study that will accurately reflect the state of affairs of child trafficking in the region. Emphasis was also placed on the need for governments to create national crime databases. But they are also hindered by insufficient technical equipment, human capacity, financial resources, and adequate legislation, it was heard. For example, Gabon which has an 800-km coastline does not have enough a large enough coast guard to prevent illegal entries, partly due to a lack of funds, Gabonese ambassador in Cote d’Ivoire, Henri Bekalle-Akwe, told IRIN. Togo, which has been under economic sanctions for years from the EU, does not have enough money to devote to child trafficking, Aho said. And across the region, existing legislation does not specifically address child trafficking, but rather children's well- being and in general terms. To counter some of these constraints, the final declaration called for specific anti-trafficking legislation and for harmonisation of these laws across national borders. Participants said a more concerted effort against the scourge would complement some of the already existing initiatives. For Michel Gregoire of the ILO office in Abidjan, the convening of the conference was in itself a positive step because it proved that the region acknowledges that the phenomenon exists. The 1996 agreement between Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria, and the September 2000 protocol between Mali and Cote d’Ivoire are some of the other earlier efforts that the region could build on in the coming years. Three aspects were identified as priorities for the region in tackling child trafficking: establishment of legislation that is specific to child trafficking and ensuring uniformity across the region, injecting the necessary amount of money, and providing the necessary equipment for security operations and more accurate and efficient administrative activities. Interpol Crime Intelligence Officer, Jan Austad added another element - that police and prosecution work in tandem to ensure that when police arrest a suspected trafficker, prosecution moves quickly on the case. This has not always been the case for many reasons including corruption, Austad explained. But N’diaye, a lawyer and presently chief of staff of Senegal’s Ministry of Family and Early Childhood, took the problem back to what he thinks is its root cause: poverty. Asked what the region should do, he said: "To eradicate this scourge, we have to fight against poverty and in favour of development". Burkina Faso agreed to host the next meeting in 2004, at which the region will review progress made since this year.