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Criminal Justice Capacity Building and New Anti-Trafficking in Persons National Plan of Action for Tanzania

Dodoma (Tanzania), 10 August 2021 – At the request of the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania, UNODC has been providing technical assistance to the Government aimed at preventing and countering Trafficking in Persons (TIP) with a victim-centred approach. This included an inter-agency scenario-based capacity building workshop on investigating and prosecuting cases of TIP as well as a series of consultations and drafting sessions to develop and validate the new Anti-TIP National Plan of Action (NPA) (2021-2024).

Delivered as part of UNODC regional project on Enhancing Effective and Victim-Centred Criminal Justice Responses to Trafficking in Persons in Eastern Africa, funded by the U.S. Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, the technical assistance aimed to strengthen both effective policy and operational responses to this crime.

From 19-21 July, UNODC presented a capacity building workshop in Arusha to 15 officials (of which 5 women) from the Tanzania Police Force, Department of Immigration, Ministry of Constitutional and Legal Affairs, Office of the Attorney General and Judiciary. The objective of this workshop was threefold: To enhance the knowledge and capacity of criminal justice practitioners to effectively prevent and counter TIP applying a human rights-based, gender-sensitive and trauma-informed approach; to assess and enhance national coordination between all relevant agencies and departments; and to assess the functionality and application of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, No. 6 of 2008 through a comprehensive scenario-exercise during which participants had to apply their legislation as well as departmental policies and procedures in order to determine the effectiveness of the legislation, policies and application.

Apart from developing knowledge and capacity, the recommendations from the workshop will form the basis for subsequent technical assistance from UNODC to the Government of Tanzania in strengthening legislation, policy and operational capacity to effectively prevent, investigate and prosecute cases of TIP.

In turn, from 19-31 July, UNODC organized and facilitated a series of consultations and work sessions in Dodoma and Arusha together with the Tanzania Anti-TIP Secretariat aimed at developing a new 3-year Anti-TIP NPA (2021-2024).

This process commenced with a consultative workshop during which both governmental and non-governmental stakeholders shared their views, success stories and challenges on the implementation of the previous Anti-TIP NPA (2018-2021). Stakeholders also had the opportunity to provide recommendations and identify priority areas to be included in the new NPA.

Following these consultations and guided by the key principles of a human rights and victim-centered approach, stakeholder participation, government ownership as well as sustainability, the drafting committee – composed of members of the Tanzania Anti-TIP Secretariat, civil servants, academia and civil society – commenced with drafting the new NPA supported by UNODC. 

The first draft of the Anti-TIP NPA (2021-2024), structured around the “4Ps”-paradigm and international standards to prevent and counter TIP – preventing TIP, effective prosecution and punishment of offenders, protection and assistance to victims, and the promotion of coordination and cooperation in countering TIP through enhanced partnership – was presented to the implementing stakeholders and Anti-Trafficking Committee during two subsequent validation workshops for their review and recommendations.

The Tanzania Anti-TIP Secretariat has now submitted the new draft NPA to the Minister of Home Affairs for review, approval and official endorsement, where after UNODC will support the Government to launch and implement the NPA.

Download the 2020 UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons and recent report on The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on TIP and Responses to the Challenges: A Global Study of Emerging Evidence for more information in the crime of TIP.

 

 

For more information, please contact:

Mr. Johan Kruger – johan.kruger@un.org

Head of Transnational Organized Crime, Illicit Trafficking and Terrorism Programmes,

UNODC Regional Office for Eastern Africa