United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

The UNODC Regional Office in East Africa (ROEA)

UNODC and Kenya Airways Cooperating to Counter Trafficking in Persons by air

Nairobi (Kenya), 10 May – UNODC Recently hosted Mr Bernard Oganga, Head of Corporate Security and Ms Adelaide Amaro, Manager of Quality Control and Integrity at Kenya Airways (KQ), at the United Nations Office of Nairobi (UNON). The meeting discussed UNODC-KQ cooperation and steps taken by KQ to combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP) by air in Kenya.

Every year, thousands of men, women, and children are exploited and trafficked to and across the Eastern Africa region, including Kenya. Trafficking in Persons is a serious crime, a grave violation of human rights, and a threat to human security and sustainable development. Eastern Africa has in recent years become a new hub for trafficking routes, with criminal groups and illicit traffickers operating effectively across borders by trafficking their victims through airways.

In December 2021, UNODC combined the expertise of two of its programmes – the  Better Migration Management (BMM) Programme and the Airport Communication Project (AIRCOP) to organise a specialised inter-agency workshop on combatting TIP at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi, Kenya, as a first-ever workshop of the kind in the region.

This workshop brought together officers based at JKIA from police, immigration, airport authority, customs, prosecutors, and representatives of Kenya Airways. After four days of interactive sessions, the participants adopted recommendations, including for Kenya Airways to develop actions to prevent and combat TIP.

Kenya Airways is now developing a comprehensive strategy to prevent and counter TIP that includes an anti-slavery and human trafficking policy, the development of training for all Kenya Airways staff on TIP, data collection, public communication, and partnerships. UNODC is honoured to accompany Kenya Airways on this journey.

The Deputy Director of UNODC’s Regional Office for Eastern Africa, Mrs Sylvie Bertrand, remarked on behalf of UNODC “We have been impressed by the efforts taken by Kenya Airways to combat Trafficking in Persons, following our UNODC training. Today, we are honoured to partner with Kenya Airways to raise awareness of the staff and travelling public!”

UNODC and Kenya Airways are currently working to develop awareness-raising material for the travelling public on TIP. These designs will serve as a checklist to inform at-risk travellers about potential exploitation.

“Combatting Trafficking in Persons by air is every employee’s responsibility” - Bernard Oganga, Kenya Airways Head of Corporate Security.

Previous steps taken by UNODC and AIRCOP in countering TIP by air in the Eastern African region, the Middle East and the Gulf States was a first-of-its-kind-inter-regional conference convened in Dubai, UAE, in November last year.

AIRCOP aims at strengthening the capacities of international airports to detect victims of TIP and intercept high-risk passengers and illicit commodities. AIRCOP facilitates communication and coordination between origin, transit and destination countries to disrupt cross-border illicit flows and criminal networks.

The BMM Programme and AIRCOP are both implemented within the framework of the UNODC Regional Programme for Eastern Africa (2016-2022) – Promoting the Rule of Law and Human Security in Eastern Africa.

Click here to see the UNODC Global Trafficking in Persons Report (2020).

Click here for more information on the UNODC Blue Heart Campaign.

For more information, please contact:

Ms Trine Larsen – trine.larsen@un.org
Communication Support Officer, Transnational Organized Crime, Illicit Trafficking and Terrorism Programmes,
UNODC Regional Office for Eastern Africa