General News

THE Pathfinder Justice Initiative (PJI), says it is working with stakeholders to create a Coordinated Care Mechanism (CCM) for survivors of human trafficking in Edo.

The Executive Director, PJI, Ruth Benson-Idahosa, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Benin.

She spoke on the sideline of a Stakeholders’ Roundtable on “Enhancing Civil Society Organisation (CSO) Coordination for Trafficking Survivors”.

Benson-Idahosa said that with CCM, support for survivors of human trafficking would be well tailored, monitored efficiently and coordinated.

She said that coordinated support for trafficked survivors would tackle the challenge of discrimination against some survivors.

”The issue where some survivors don’t benefit from certain support while others benefit from different interventions will be resolved.

“Stakeholders are trying to provide services for returnees and survivors of trafficking but we are doing without coordination, so the efforts being put are disaggregated.

‘This programme is to create a system that is similar to our national mechanism but for local Edo service providers so that we are coordinated, transparent and efficient in the way we care for survivors,” she said.

The Permanent Secretary, Edo Ministry of Gender and Social Development, Mrs Barbara Osobajo, told NAN that creating CCM was laudable and needed to have a functional support system for survivors of human trafficking.

Represented by Mrs Joy Ihensekhien, the Director, Gender in the ministry, Osobajo said that the referral mechanism component of CCM would reduce duplication of efforts and ensure continuity of support.

NAN reports that CCM is part of the Justice Project geared toward strengthening and enhancing the network and coordination of CSOs, to better serve survivors of sex trafficking.

The project is supported by PJI, Ambassador De France Au Nigeria  and PISCCA. (NAN)

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Tags: Barbara Osobajo Joy Ihensekhien Pathfinder Justice Initiative Ruth Benson-Idahosa