Agence Haitïenne de Presse

The Minister of Social Affairs and Labor together with the International Office for Migration (IOM) opened a two day seminar on trafficking of children at INAGHEI (The National Institute of Management and Advanced International Studies).

The primary objective of the this seminar is to equip the Ministry's regional directors who are taking part in the seminar with the necessary tools to manage campaigns to raise public awareness in their regions to lessen the level of trafficking in children, said Maureen Acheng, one of the representatives of IOM.

Mme. Archeng emphasized that unlike other countries, child trafficking inside Haiti is very disturbing. And the most affected parts of the country, she said, are the cities of Jérémie and Gonaďves.

The best way to fight internal trafficking in children is to help the parents, who send their kids to work outside their regions with the hope that they will escape poverty and obtain a better education.

The IOM official said that the leaders do not have enough information about the working conditions of children, even though that is an important asset in combatting trafficking.

She indicated that this seminar will not provide the regional officials with every element they need to combat child trafficking, but it will enable them to raise awareness within communities of the danger posed by this practice.

Campaigns will be carried out by regional officials who attended the seminar in their respective regions in order to better inform families about the problems associated with trafficking in children.