"More effort needed" on child trafficking

The government of Gabon has heard that it needs to expand its inter-ministerial commission against child trafficking, reinforce its laws on illegal child immigration and repatriation, and sensitise its security forces in order to minimise the exploitation of children. Trafficking had got more complex and gained worrying proportions in the West African region, according to participants at a seminar aimed at identifying new strategies in the fight against child trafficking, which ended in the capital, Libreville, on Friday. Government officials and representatives of nongovernmental organisations and European Union who attended the seminar agreed to coordinate their interventions in order to combat the phenomenon in Gabon. The trafficking situation had not changed for the better in West African countries like Gabon, despite sub-regional consultations in Libreville in 2000 at which child slavery was denounced, news agencies quoted participants as saying. In March this year, regional governments and partner organisations agreed to ratify a convention against child trafficking in 2004. A blueprint for that convention - highlighting prevention, identification, repatriation and reintegration of child victims of trafficking - was discussed at the Libreville meeting last week.