IOM is launching a series of special meetings to increase awareness
of human trafficking among vulnerable flood-affected communities
living in the central Sofala , western Tete and coastal Zambezia
provinces in Mozambique.

The group discussions will take place from 9 to 20 November in
eleven locations in the districts of Caia, Mutarara and Morrumbala
including Chilomo, Tengane, Muriri, Mponha, Gera, Gaute,
Ndambuenda, Mapulango, Canga, Caia and Morrumbala Sede.

They will bring together IOM counter-trafficking experts
alongside hundreds of beneficiaries and community leaders from
areas where existing vulnerabilities to trafficking have been
exacerbated by recent flooding.    

An assessment carried out by IOM in May 2007 clearly established
that the regular destruction of livelihoods increased the
vulnerability of communities to human trafficking.

"Tailor-made approaches engaging communities through their
leadership can considerably reduce vulnerabilities to trafficking,"
says IOM's Nely Chimedza. "IOM is also providing funds to the most
vulnerable to help them start income-generating projects, so they
can become self-reliant and therefore less exposed to
trafficking."

Group discussions will focus on the various forms of
trafficking, on preventive strategies and practices and on setting
up informal community protection mechanisms in times of natural
disasters.

Income-generating activities focusing on farming will be carried
out in partnership with the NGO Oikos-Cooperação e
Desenvolvimento and in coordination with the Mozambican Department
of Agriculture.

Seeds for maize, beans, cassava and sweet potatoes, which can be
grown in flooded areas will be distributed as will fertilizer and
agricultural tools as part of efforts to reduce vulnerabilities and
increase local food security. Business management training for
beneficiaries will also be made available.

This Japanese-funded initiative falls under IOM's regional
Southern African Counter Trafficking Assistance Programme (SACTAP)
that addresses human trafficking across Southern Africa.

Mozambique is a source and to a lesser extent, a destination
country for men, women and children trafficked for the purpose of
forced labour and sexual exploitation. Children are regularly
trafficked from rural to urban areas with promises of employment or
education, as well as to South Africa for domestic servitude and
commercial sexual exploitation. Young men and boys are also
trafficked to South Africa for farm work and
mining.     

IOM's SACTAP is funded by the Norwegian Embassy in South Africa
and the US Department of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees and
Migration (PRM). 

For more information, please contact:

Nely Chimedza

IOM Maputo

Tel +258 21 310 779

E-mail: "mailto:nchimedza@iom.int">nchimedza@iom.int