By Hajaratu Kalokoh
Thirty-five journalists from Freetown on Friday went through a one-day media training on issues related to human trafficking.
The training which was coordinated by the Ministry of Social Welfare and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), is geared towards increasing knowledge and encouraging reportage about human trafficking.
It was conducted at the Office of the Vice President, Dr Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh, who said at the opening ceremony that government was working to train key institutions on human trafficking as part of ways to win the fight against the growing menace.
"This (training) is something that has to do not only with your profession but also with our country, because the people that are affected are Sierra Leoneans and they need help. We need to talk about it, we need to fight for them and we need to stop it. So, there is no better person to do that than you the journalists. “[The training] is for you to have the knowledge and insight into the problematic dynamics of this phenomenon, how it is unfolding and what we can do as a government, what kind of network we need to build both nationally, sub regional and international to address it," the VP said.
"We are already establishing relationship and contact with other countries, particularly in the Arab world, to see how we can build a strategic relationship. We need to focus on this issue so that we can protect our brothers and sisters and kids, so that at the end of the day we stand strong to fight against trafficking, against human slavery and to fight for justice," he added.
Sierra Leone is a popular recruit destination for human traffickers. Traffickers recruit people in the country under the guise of providing jobs for them abroad.
There are no credible data on human trafficking in the country, a situation the Deputy Minister of Social Welfare blamed on under reporting of the issue by the media.
The deputy minister, Mohamed Haji Kella, said the media should be a key actor in the fight against human trafficking.
"We believe [that] for us to be able to do this, journalists should be at the frontline. The frontline in the sense that we need to provide the factual information to the general public about the issues surrounding trafficking, the problem surrounding trafficking, the effects of trafficking on the family, government and society," he stated.
Head of IOM in Sierra Leone, Alhaji Sanusi Tejan Savage, said it was important for stakeholders to collaborate with the media on this issue because overtime the media would be able to prevent trafficking.
"Today, more than ever, data is needed to understand the full scope of human trafficking in the region. More and better information is necessary to coordinate and improve on the anti-trafficking programs taking place regionally and globally. The more we know the better we can respond. Information is key. Information can indeed help prevent human trafficking," he said.
The training focused on the complexities surrounding trafficking, how journalists should approach a possible story angle and the ethical standards that should be considered.
One of the beneficiaries, Mohamed Lamin Banya, told Politico after the training session that he now had a new insight on how to cover the subject of human trafficking.
"From the training today, I now know who and who should be my target audience in terms of reporting issues like trafficking and human smuggling, that is institutions like the Police, IOM, etc," said Mr Banya, who works for the Africa Young Voices.
At the end of the training, the journalists made group presentations based on case studies they were given.
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